Breakaway
by Mahone-chic-89
Summary: Who says a girl can't play in the NHL? 21 yr old Kristine is out to prove herself when she joins the Washington Capitals hockey team. But soon the Caps old enemy, the Pittsburgh Penguins, threaten to destroy everything. See full summary inside!
1. Summary

**Breakaway**

Note: technically this is a sequel to my other story: Against All Odds, however if you have not read it no worries, it should still be fairly easy to follow. I'll do my best to fill in any gaps for those who haven't read the original story : )

Kristine is a 21 year old girl with a mission: to play in the NHL. After a long legal battle and several tests to prove her abilities, she's accepted onto the Washington Capitals NHL hockey team. She makes fast friends with several of the guys on the team but soon runs into a certain player from the Capitals rival team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. After dealing with some serious issues with the Penguins just one season ago, things are still very sensitive. Kristine's new relationship with the Penguin's player makes things both awkward and dangerous for both teams involved. But more than that, someone on her own team already has feelings for her…torn between her loyalty to the Capitals and her love for the Penguins player, Kristine is at a loss. Complications arise that will forever alter the Capitals team. Love, loss, betrayal, and friendship all in one story!

Here is the song that inspired the story if you want to get another taste as to what it will be like:

Fighter by Christina Aguilera

After all that you put me through,  
You think I'd despise you,  
But in the end I wanna thank you,  
'Cause you've made me that much stronger

Well I thought I knew you, thinkin' that you were true  
Guess I, I couldn't trust called your bluff time is up  
Cause I've had enough  
You were there by my side, always down for the ride  
But your joy ride just came down in flames cause your greed sold me out in shame

After all of the stealing and cheating you probably think that I hold resentment for you  
But uh uh, oh no, you're wrong  
Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do, I wouldn't know  
Just how capable I am to pull through  
So I wanna say thank you  
Cause it

Makes me that much stronger  
Makes me work a little bit harder  
It makes me that much wiser  
So thanks for making me a fighter  
Made me learn a little bit faster  
Made my skin a little bit thicker  
Makes me that much smarter  
So thanks for making me a fighter

Never saw it coming, all of your backstabbing  
Just so you could cash in on a good thing before I'd realize your game  
I heard you're going round play, the victim now  
But don't even begin feeling I'm the one to blame  
Cause you dug your own grave  
After all of the fights and the lies cause you're wanting to haunt me  
But that won't work anymore, no more,  
It's over  
Cause if it wasn't for all of your torture  
I wouldn't know how to be this way now and never back down  
So I wanna say thank you  
Cause it

How could this man I thought I knew  
Turn out to be unjust so cruel  
Could only see the good in you  
Pretend not to know the truth  
You tried to hide your lies, disguise yourself  
Through living in denial  
But in the end you'll see  
YOU-WONT-STOP-ME

I am a fighter and I  
I ain't gonna stop  
There is no turning back  
I've had enough

You thought I would forget  
But I remembered  
Cause I remembered  
I remembered  
You thought I would forget  
I remembered  
Cause I remembered  
I remembered


	2. New Girl in Town

**Here is the first installment! Let me know what you think!**

Kristine fidgeted anxiously as she sat in her small, black Honda Civic. She forced herself to talk long, deep breaths in an attempt to control her racing heart. She ran a hand through her long, dark brown hair and sighed as she glanced again at her watch. Today was the first day that Kristine would be meeting the Washington Capitals and she was excited, anxious and unsure as to how she would be received by the well-known and well-accomplished hockey team.

Kristine had been through a two year legal battle with the NHL over whether or not she was permitted to play in a league for men. Of course the battle had been fierce…she was the first woman to ever even try and make it to the NHL. She was different, new and people tend to fear the unknown. She was breaking tradition and kicking it to the curb and there were a lot of people who were eager to watch her fall flat on her face. After two long years, she had won the battle and had been permitted to acquire an agent to help her seek a job on an NHL team.

Her agent had pushed her to apply for nearly every team in the NHL but Kristine had her sights on the Washington Capitals. A local D.C. girl herself Kristine wanted to stay close to her home town and play for the team she had been cheering on since she was two years old. Luckily for her, the Capitals were in need of a new forward after Beagle had broken his leg and the doctors announced that he was out for the season. Now all she had to worry about was how she would be received by the rest of the team. The coaches had seemed nice enough and the Capitals staff was more than happy to have acquired the next "big thing" on their team, but she wasn't so sure the players would feel the same way…

…

"This has to be a joke," said Mike Green with a disbelieving smile, "I mean…this is a prank right? You can't be serious."

"Dude I think he's for real," said Carlson, his eyes wide with surprise as he glanced over at Green.

Ovechkin raised an eyebrow curiously as he gazed up at the Capitals head coach, Bruce Boudreau, "So…a _girl_ is joining our team?"

"No a girl _has_ joined the team," corrected Coach Boudreau, "The paperwork has been signed and filed away…she's a member of this team and I expect for you all to be appropriate and to treat her well when she gets here. I'm sure she's nervous as hell."

"Are we really that bad?" argued Green as he began to get agitated, "Are we so terrible that you're hiring females to join the team? What the hell is this?"

"Green," said Boudreau, giving his star defenseman a stern look, "She is the best damn thing to happen to the hockey world since Ovechkin came over from Russia so get over it. Move past her sex and just teach her the ropes like you do every other rookie, got it?"

"She's not just like every rookie!" argued Green, "She's a freakin' _girl_! I mean…haven't you even briefly considered the way the rest of the NHL is going to look at us now? Oh man, the Penguins are going to have an effing _field day_ with this one!"

"Mike you are out of line!" roared Boudreau, "Sit down, shut up and do what I've told you to do, got it?"

Green's jaw clenched as he bit back a bitter retort and sat down on the bench. Nicklas Backstrom shot Green a sympathetic look and patted him on the shoulder. Ever since the drama had unfolded between the Capitals and the Penguins last season the team had grown considerably closer. Backstrom's friendships had been not only restored but strengthened to an all new level. He had learned who his real friends were and had done everything he could to regain their trust after his horrible mistake he had made in the previous hockey season. Now this new female rookie was threatening to cause problems with their team. Backstrom couldn't help but agree with Green's view on the issue. This could very well divide the team or destroy them completely. What would the fans think? Would they support an NHL team that had a girl on it? What would their opponents think? How would they react? How would_ Sidney Crosby_ react?

Backstrom shuddered at the very thought of the Penguin's deceitful and manipulative young captain. Sidney Crosby had nearly destroyed the Washington Capitals after playing upon Backstrom's weaknesses and convincing him to become a turncoat. Backstrom silently vowed to never allow something like that to ever affect himself or his team ever again…and now an entirely new and unexpected situation had just come up. He prayed that things would go over smoothly…but deep down he knew this wasn't going to be an easy thing for the team to accept.

"Alright guys," said Ovechkin with a sigh after Boudreau left the locker room, "Let's just gear up and go practice like we always do okay?"

The Capitals quietly put on all their gear and murmured amongst themselves. Ovechkin watched his teammates carefully, trying to gauge their reactions to the news. Most of them either looked angry, confused or even nervous and fearful as they contemplated what this would mean for all of them. Alex Ovechkin sighed as he put on his captain's jersey…once again it was up to him to keep his team together…he just hoped it would be an easier task than it was last season…

…

Kristine felt like she was going to throw up as she put on her gear in the empty locker room. She could hear the rest of the team out on the ice practicing their slap shots as she laced up her skates with trembling fingers. She had a brief flashback to a moment she had with her father before he had passed away. She remembered him putting a hand on her shoulder right before she took to the ice for her very first hockey game when she was six years old. He had told her that she could do anything she wanted and that she should always reach for the starts. Above all else he told her to never let anyone tell her she couldn't do something and if they did…prove them wrong.

Kristine squared her shoulders, feeling a twinge of confidence as she recalled her father's encouraging words. She would prove to them that she was more than capable of doing this…

…

"The girl's here," muttered Fehr into Mike Green's ear as he skated past him.

Green grimaced a little and glanced over at the other side of the rink. He was shocked to see that the girl was actually rather attractive. She looked young, maybe early twenties, with long, dark brown hair tied up in a bun. Her eyes were a brilliant emerald green that he could see even from the other side of the rink. She was glancing around nervously as she secured her helmet and stepped out onto the ice.

"She's awfully pretty ain't she Greenie," smirked Backstrom as he skated by, noticing Mike Green's inquisitive stare.

Green rolled his eyes and sent a playful swipe at the side of his friend's helmet, "Shut up, Nicky," he said with a laugh.

Backstrom skated away, laughing in amusement the whole way to the other side of the rink. Green sighed in exasperation as he turned back to look at the rookie. She was pretty…beautiful even. Green shook his head crossly at the thought. She was a rookie…a female rookie on an NHL team. Chances were she wouldn't make it longer than a couple of days. She would play a game or two with the big boys and see how intensely physical the NHL is and then quit. It was inevitable…there was no way a female could keep up…no way.

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	3. New Girl, New Tricks

**Thank you to everyone who is reading! : ) I appreciate it!**

Kristine took a shaky breath as she skated over to Alex Ovechkin. She couldn't believe that just a few weeks ago she was attending Capitals games as a fan and wearing his jersey. He was her idol…he was the exact kind of player she had always strived to be: aggressive, fearless and goal-oriented. Now she was skating over to him to ask him what she was supposed to do…because now he was _her_ captain. It was an odd yet exhilarating sensation.

"Ah you must be the rookie," said Ovechkin as he glanced over and saw the brunette skating over to him.

"Darn…what gave it away?" asked Kristine with a smirk, attempting to alleviate her anxiety through humor.

Alex Ovechkin couldn't help but laugh a little at that. The girl had spunk, he had to give her that much.

"Alright I need you to go down there and work on some drills with Backstrom and Green. They'll show you the ropes and let you know what you need to work on."

Kristine nodded as she skated over to where Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green were practicing their puck handling skills. She swallowed nervously as she approached them, forcing herself to keep up her confident smile and at least appear to know what she was doing.

"Ovechkin sent me over here," she said as she drew closer to the two players, "He said we are supposed to work on some drills."

Mike Green tried to keep himself from cursing out loud as he shot a glare in Alex's direction. Ovechkin just smirked as he skated off to the far end of the rink. Backstrom tried to hide his amusement as he nodded and turned to Kristine.

"Good…alright then we'll work on some two on one drills. I'm Nicklas Backstrom by the way, and that's Mike Green."

Kristine nodded, "I know…I've been a Caps fan since I was two…I never miss a game. I'm Kristine Alvarez."

Backstrom raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? Well…then you know how we operate then. Nice last name by the way…it'll look good on your jersey. Alright let's have you and me against Mikey. Ready?"

Kristine nodded, her eyes glittering with excitement as Backstrom snatched up a puck with his stick and moved to the center ice line. He nodded to her and the pair took off down the ice. Mike Green skated backwards in front of them, his eyes darting back and forth, never missing a beat. Kristine had watched enough Capitals hockey to know how Mike would react. A plan began to form quickly in her mind as Backstrom slid the puck over to her. Immediately she raised her stick into the air, preparing for a slap shot. As she had anticipated, Mike Green went down to the ice in an attempt to block the shot. Kristine moved deftly to the side and sent a wrister top shelf. It easily sailed past Varlamov's outstretched hand and into the net.

"Holy shit," muttered Backstrom as Green picked himself up off the ice, "She's good."

"Lucky move," muttered Green, "That won't happen again. Let's see what else she's got before we call her 'good'."

Nicklas smirked and rolled his eyes, "You might eventually have to admit that the girl's got game you know."

"Yeah right," sneered Green, "She won't last long enough for me to admit that. Wait till after the first game Nicky…she won't be able to hold her own against Crosby and his Penguins."

Backstrom shrugged, "We'll see…okay let's set it up again."

Backstrom and Alvarez lined up at center ice. This time Backstrom gave the puck to Alvarez to move down the ice on her own. Now she would have to determine whether or not to take the shot or pass it to Nicklas if the opportunity arose. They were testing her judgment…would she be the kind of player that had to be in the lime light or would she be willing to pass the puck and let someone else score?

As they moved down the ice Green was all over the rookie. His stick jabbed at hers as he fought to loosen her control of the puck but Alvarez moved with a sort of finesse that Green had never seen before. She deftly moved the puck out of his reach each and every time he jabbed at it. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to shake her control of the puck, Mike opted to block her shooting lane.

As Mike Green slid over just a couple inches, Alvarez cursed under her breath. Her shooting lane was closed and she was running out of options. She glanced over and saw Nicklas Backstrom move into an open channel. Without a moment's hesitation she sent a quick wrister his way and Nicklas snatched up the pass. He aimed a well-timed shot at Varlamov who lost it just an inch away from his glove.

"Damn," muttered Varlamov as he lifted up his helmet and grabbed the water bottle on the top of the net, "She's good."

Nicklas was all smiles as he skated over and put his arm around Kristine's shoulders, "Nice pass! How the hell did you manage to keep Green from messing up your puck control though? I've never seen anyone move quite like that before."

Kristine shrugged, "It's just something I learned when I was in high school. I always got poke-checked by the other teams' defense so I had to learn a new way to get passed that."

"Well I think the rest of the team wouldn't mind learning that trick," suggested Backstrom, "Maybe we should get everyone together so you can show them what you know?"

Kristine's eyes grew wide with surprise at that. Mike Green rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath as he skated away.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Kristine, "I mean…me being the rookie _and_ a girl…would they actually listen to me?"

Backstrom laughed, "If you can replay what you just did and show them that little trick of yours, yeah they'll listen. Hang on a second I'll go tell Ovie and we'll work something out."

Kristine skated nervously back and forth as she waited for Backstrom to return. Ovechkin looked rather excited as he called the team to order and gathered them at center ice.

"Alright everyone spread out around this end of the rink!" he ordered, "The rookie's got a trick up her sleeve that she'd like to share with us!"

The Capitals' players exchanged doubtful and curious looks as they spread out. Kristine could read the message on their faces loud and clear: the female rookie was about to show _them_ a trick…yeah right. Perhaps the most outspoken player seemed to be Mike Green. He had his arms crossed and was mumbling irritably to Alexander Semin as he waited for Ovechkin to give more orders. Kristine just took a deep breath and decided that he was the one she was going to have to prove herself to. It was clear he wasn't impressed and not too pleased to have her around…she would have to do everything she could to change that.

"Alright, Mikey and Nicky set it up like you said you were doing earlier," ordered Ovechkin, "And Alvarez do what you did last time."

The three players moved into position, Mike Green giving a sigh of annoyance and he stood in front of Backstrom and Alvarez. Nicklas shot his friend a warning look as he gave Kristine the puck. He nodded at her, signaling that she could begin whenever she was ready. Kristine snatched up the puck and began to make her way down the ice. Green matched her move for move as they skated. He stuck out his stick and tried to break up her control of the puck, but Kristine moved her stick deftly out of the way and slid the puck under his outreached stick, picking up right where she had left off. It was as if Green wasn't even there. He couldn't seem to mess up her puck control enough to force her to the edge of the rink. Instead she moved right through the center as she had planned. Once he blocked her shooting lane, she sent a quick pass to Backstrom who moved into position to shoot. Unfortunately for Varlamov, Kristine had forced Green to move up the center of the rink with her, thereby blocking some of Varlamov's view of the rink. Backstrom was partially shielded by Green and when he took the shot Varlamov never saw it coming. It slid it right next to his glove hand yet again.

"How the hell does she do that?" exclaimed Varly as he took off his helmet, "Damn!"

Kristine turned to look over at Ovechkin and smiled a little when she saw his look of shock and curiosity. The rest of the team seemed flabbergasted at the play and were all talking at once. They all wanted to figure out how she had managed to hold off the NHL's number one defenseman.

"How did you move your stick again?" asked Eric Fehr as he skated up to Kristine, "Was it something like this?"

Kristine felt overwhelmed as several other players gathered to hear her instructions, "Um…well…sort of, but it had more of a twist…like, from your wrist. There you go, just like that!"

Ovechkin, Green and Backstrom looked on as Kristine began to teach the team what was sure to become her signature move.

"You have to admit it Mikey," said Backstrom with a smile, "The girl's good…she's got skill."

"She hasn't played a game yet," insisted Mike in exasperation, "We play the Penguins tomorrow night. Are you sure she's ready for that? What'll happen when Crosby goes after her? You know he will…the second she makes that move on his team he's going to try to take her out. That's how he operates…he always goes for whichever one of our players is strongest and tries to take them out of the game."

"That low-life will be taken care of," said Ovechkin as his eyes hardened with anger, "If he so much as attempts to intentionally hurt her I'll handle it."

"Same here," muttered Backstrom, clenching his jaw, "I promised I wouldn't let him do anything to our team again after what happened last season…so I'll make sure he doesn't hurt her. Just keep us on the same line together and I'll handle it."

Ovechkin nodded and patted his friend on the back, "Good…thanks Nicky. Alright after she's done teaching them some moves I want you guys to lead some suicides okay? I want every muscle in everyone's bodies pumping hard…we have to be ready for tomorrow's game."

Backstrom nodded as he and Green skated over to the throng of excited players. Tomorrow night would be judgment night for Kristine Alvarez. It would determine whether or not she really was cut out for the big leagues…and it was guaranteed to not be an easy game…

…

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	4. A Changed Man?

**Thank you as always to everyone who is reading! : ) **

Kristine arrived early to skate and warm up before the rest of the team arrived. Tonight was the big night…they played their first game against the Pittsburgh Penguins that night and she was feeling restless. She skated suicides to warm up her muscles then grabbed a stick and a puck and skated around the rink, practicing her puck handling skills. She worked out her muscles and her nerves for about an hour and then headed back inside the locker room.

There was still about an hour until practice officially started. After she took off her pads and put away her gear, Kristine decided to go for a walk outside. It was a cool morning and the fresh air on her face woke her up and calmed her down at the same time. She had spent most of the night last night pacing around her small apartment, stressing about today. She wanted to prove to her team…to everyone for that matter, that she was cut out for this. She wanted to prove to her lawyers that had fought so hard to get her into the NHL that their work was not in vain…she wanted to prove to the fans that she was a player worth cheering for…but most of all she wanted to prove herself to Mike Green. She had managed to gain some respect from the rest of the team by following orders and by showing them some of her tricks, but Mike Green was the only player who seemed to be unimpressed by her attempts to fit in.

She frowned as she pictured the dark, brooding defenseman and wondered why he was so cold to her. Perhaps it was just the fact that she was a girl…there were a lot of people who wanted to see her fail so that she would get kicked out of the NHL…maybe he was one of them?

"Hey there."

Kristine jumped and whirled around, gasping in surprise as she came face to face with a very attractive young man.

"Whoa there," he said with an easy laugh, his perfect white teeth gleaming in the early morning light as he flashed her a charming smile, "Sorry to scare you…you're that girl aren't you?"

Kristine cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure as she answered, "Kristine Alvarez…yeah I'm _that_ girl."

The young man glanced away for a moment, "Sorry…didn't mean to offend you…I've heard a lot about you in the news. Glad to see they finally decided to give you a chance. I've heard you're good."

Kristine narrowed her eyes at the young man, "I'm good enough I suppose…who are you?"

"My name's Sidney Crosby," he answered as he watched her reaction. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she looked excited rather than horrified.

"Sidney Crosby!" she exclaimed, "Damn it…I'm sorry I should have recognized you."

Crosby shrugged, "Nah no worries…I'm not wearing any hockey gear or Penguins logos so I'm sort of incognito I guess."

Kristine smiled slightly at that. Despite the fact that the Penguins were her team's arch rivals, she didn't bare much ill-will against the handsome-looking captain. After all…rivalries were all business right? Nothing personal…

"So what are you doing here so early?" he pressed.

Kristine smirked, "I could ask you the same thing…your team's practice doesn't start till ten."

"Touché," said Crosby as he flashed her another dazzling smile, "I just wanted to get out of the hotel for a while…it gets claustrophobic sometimes so I figured I'd walk around for a bit and get some fresh air."

Kristine nodded, "Same here…I got sick of sitting in the apartment stressing out so…"

Kristine paused, mentally kicking herself. She had just told the captain of Pittsburgh Penguins that she was stressing out about tonight.

"Stressing out?" asked Crosby as he took a couple steps toward her, "About what? Tonight?"

Kristine shrugged, hugging her jacket closer to her body, "It's my first game in the NHL…I guess its a little nerve racking."

"You don't have anything to worry about," assured Crosby as he put an arm around her shoulders, "Trust me…from what I've heard it's _me_ who should be worried."

Kristine sneered at that, "Yeah right…you're Sidney Crosby…you don't have anything in the world to be worried about."

Crosby just laughed, "So you still have what, about forty five minutes or so till practice?"

Kristine nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Wanna go grab something for breakfast? I'm starving!"

Kristine's eyes grew wide with astonishment. Sidney Crosby was asking _her_ to go out to eat?

"Um, yeah sure," she stammered, "Yeah…let's get out of here."

…

"Where the hell is she?" muttered an annoyed Mike Green as he skated around the practice rink with his teammates.

Ovechkin shrugged, "So she's running behind? So what? It's not like you've never been late for a practice before."

Green glowered at his friend who just laughed and threw him a fake punch to the side of his helmet.

"It is strange though," said Semin as he skated by them, "I mean…it's her first big day. You_'_d think she'd be all stressed out and making sure she got here extra early or something."

Backstrom skated up to them with a frown on his face, "Well…I found all her gear in the locker room so she got here before we all did."

Ovechkin gave him a surprised look, "That's weird…maybe she came here to warm up or something?"

"But then where would she go?" asked Nicklas, "It doesn't make any sense."

"Who cares," muttered Green as he picked up a puck, "We don't need her anyway…we've won plenty of games before she came along and we'll do it again today if we have to. She probably chickened out or something. I mean…"

Green let his sentence trail off as he stared over Ovechkin's shoulder, his eyes wide and his mouth open in shock. He let the puck fall from his hand back to the ice, "Holy shit…"

Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin gave their friend a quizzical look and turned around to see what he was looking at. It was Kristine walking into the practice arena…with Sidney Crosby.

"Oh my god," muttered Backstrom, feeling a tremor pass through is body as he watched Crosby escort Kristine to the locker room and open the door for her, "No…no freaking way."

"We have to warn her," said Semin, his jaw tight with tension and his eyes glassy with worry, "We have to warn her before he gets to her like he got to Nicky."

"Maybe it's not like that," said Ovechkin, struggling to be reasonable, "I mean…I doubt she'd turn on us like that."

"I did," muttered Nicklas as he looked away, "I was on this team for four years and I turned on you guys…she's still new. She doesn't have any real ties to this team yet…it's possible he could be manipulating her."

"I'll rip his head off," snarled Green, "He's not even supposed to be in our arena during our practice hour!"

Sydney said bye to Kristine and turned around to look out at the arena. He saw Ovechkin, Green, Semin and Backstrom all staring at him with a mixture of shock, horror and fury in their eyes. He smirked a little and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Hey boys!" he called out.

The rest of the team looked over and froze when they saw Crosby. A collective angry muttering echoed around the rink as they all glowered at the young Penguins captain.

"You wanna get out of our rink?" shouted Mike Green, "You got another hour till you're allowed in here!"

Crosby nodded, "Yeah I was just leaving…I just wanted to drop Kristine off after breakfast. No harm done."

The team looked shocked to hear that. They all looked over at Green, Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin, their eyes wide with surprise.

"Stay away from her," growled Nicklas as he skated over to the edge of the rink to talk to Crosby, "Don't you dare manipulate her like you manipulated me. I swear to god Sidney if you do…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Crosby as he held up his hands, "Calm down Nicklas…it's not like that anymore, alright?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" sneered Green as he, Semin and Ovechkin skated over to join them.

"I mean…I'm sorry about last season, okay?" said Crosby, looking uncomfortable with apologizing to them, "Trust me I got lectured for the past three months about it from my coach and Evengi Malkin. Evengi is by best friend and I almost lost him after everything went down…he threatened to walk away from the team, walk away from me. I don't have many friends…Evengi's the only real one I have and I know I can't lose him so I've changed my ways."

"Just like that?" asked Semin, his eyes narrowed with suspicion, "You just decided to change the way you've lived your whole life just like that?"

"Yeah…just like that," said Crosby, shooting an annoyed look in Semin's direction, "You don't have to believe me, its fine I get it. I'll prove it to you this season though…I'm not that guy anymore."

"Well then we're looking forward to seeing the new Sidney Crosby," said Ovechkin, diplomatically.

Crosby nodded to him gratefully, "Thank you…oh and you guys have a good thing going for you with Kristine Alvarez. I watched some of her try out tapes…she's good. Not bad looking either if I do say so myself."

Green sneered at that and skated away. Ovechkin rolled his eyes at his best friend's reaction, "Don't mind him, he's been a little moody lately."

Crosby smirked, "No worries…anyway I'll see you guys tonight."

"What…the…hell….was….that?" stammered Backstrom, his eyes wide with disbelief, "You guys don't actually by that shit do you? You saw what he did to us…to me….last year! There's no way in hell that snake has changed!"

"Nicky calm down," urged Ovechkin, "No I don't believe him…not now anyway. If he really is a changed man he's gonna have to prove it to us. He's innocent until proven guilty for now."

"But he's already been proven guilty!" growled Mike Green as he skated past them, "What else do you need, Alex? The man is a two-timing asshole that'll screw you over in a New York minute!"

"Guys, come on," said Alex Semin, "Chill out alright? Give the man the benefit of the doubt…people are capable of changing you know," Semin shot a look in Backstrom's direction.

"I think my case is a bit different that _his_," muttered Nicklas.

"Okay let's just drop it for now," said Ovechkin as Kristine walked back out of the locker room with all her gear on, "Let's just practice, warm up and get ready for tonight okay? Whether or not Crosby is lying isn't our first priority right now. We'll see what happens tonight."

Green and Backstrom shared doubtful looks as they skated away together, mumbling to each other about their displeasure with Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin sighed as he watched them skate away.

"Let them be," muttered Semin, "Like you said, we have other things to worry about."

Ovechkin nodded in agreement as he skated off to start practice. He silently prayed that Crosby was right and that he truly had changed…otherwise this was going to be the beginning of another long, painful season for the Washington Capitals…

…

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	5. Blowout

**Thanks for reading! : ) And please review! I love the feedback!**

"You ready for this?" said Mathieu Perreault as he skated over to Kristine.

The players were all warming up during the last few minutes before the big game. Kristine felt a twinge of nervousness in her stomach and tried to force it to go away.

"I think so," she replied with a nervous smile.

"You got this, girl you got it!" said Perreault in his usual hyper, excited voice, "We're gonna kick some Penguin ass tonight!"

Kristine smirked at Perreault's excitement. The young kid was about her age and full of life. He didn't look like he had ever had a bad day in his life.

Mike Green skated across the center ice line, glaring daggers over at the Penguins team. He glanced over and saw Perreault smiling as he skated away from Kristine Alvarez. The new girl was stretching out her muscles and glancing around anxiously as she waited for the game to begin. She glanced up and caught him staring at her. Mike looked away quickly and skated off to the other side of the rink near the goal tender, Semyon Varlamov.

Kristine frowned at Mike Green's reaction. She couldn't figure the young defenseman out to save her life. Everyone else seemed somewhat okay with her being on the team, yet Mike still showed signs of resentment. He had yet to say a word to her since she had joined the team and he'd grudgingly agreed to work on drills with her at her first practice. What was it with this guy?

"Hey you!"

Kristine turned and smiled when she recognized Sidney Crosby. The young Penguins captain skated over the center ice line and knelt down to where she was stretching.

"You ready?" he asked her, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

"I think so," said Kristine, feeling a little flushed with the attractive captain so close to her, "I mean…I've been preparing for this day all my life so I guess I'm as ready as I can be."

"It'll be an honor to play against you," replied Sydney with a wink, "Just…don't slam me into the boards _too_ hard okay?"

Kristine smirked at his joke, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"Hey! Crosby!" snarled Mike Green as he skated over.

Instantly Crosby got up off the ice and stood to face the advancing Capitals defenseman, "Hey Mike…what's up?" he asked, keeping his voice even and friendly.

"Aren't you on the wrong side of the rink?" growled Mike as he got in Crosby's face.

"I was just saying hi to Kristine," said Crosby as he put his hands up, "I didn't mean any harm."

"Would you leave him alone?" said Kristine, her anger flaring as she watched Mike Green try to intimidate Crosby, "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Stay out of this," barked Green as he glanced over his shoulder at Kristine, "It's none of your business."

"The hell it isn't!" argued Kristine, surprising herself with the amount of anger that was boiling up inside of her, "Back off Green!"

"No, Kristine it's okay," said Crosby as he tried to elevate the rising tension, "Its fine…I'll go back over to my side of the rink. It's not worth you guys fighting. I'll see you later, maybe after the game?"

Kristine nodded, giving Sydney an apologetic look as he turned to head over to his side of the ice rink.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped when Mike Green turned around to face her, "You have a serious attitude issue! What the hell did he do to deserve that?"

Green sneered, "You have no idea. Like I said, it's none of your concern so just stay out of it and stay away from _him_."

Kristine gave Mike a flabbergasted look, "The hell I will! He's a great guy! If you took the chance to get to know him you'd understand!"

"Oh I've taken the chance to know him and I don't like one damn thing about him!" roared Green as he got in Kristine's face, "If you only knew what…"

"Whoa, cool it over here," said Semin as he grabbed Green's arm and pulled him away from Kristine, giving him an intense, warning glare, "Let's take it down a notch, alright? Let it go…it's time to play some hockey."

Kristine threw another withering glare in Mike's direction before she skated away.

"Calm down," ordered Semin once Kristine was out of ear shot, "And don't say anything about last season, okay? We all agreed to keep that to ourselves, remember? She doesn't need to know that."

"Yeah well what if she starts dating that piece of shit?" snarled Mike as he shook off Semin's hold, "She'll want to know then!"

"Mike, things may really have changed, you may have to admit that," said Semin, reasonably, "Just let it go okay? Let's play the game and worry about the rest later."

Green shook his head, "Whatever…when she winds up heartbroken and all alone she can thank you."

Semin frowned a little as he watched Mike skate away. This was sure to cause problems in the future. He shook his head and gathered his thoughts. It was time to focus on the game now…

…

"I want you to do the faceoff," ordered Coach Boudreau as he pointed a finger at Kristine, "And I want Ovechkin, Green, Perreault and Backstrom to join you on the first shift, got it?"

Kristine nodded, her mouth dry with apprehension as she and the other chosen players left the bench and set up around center ice for the puck drop. Evengi Malkin of the Penguins was chosen from his team to do the faceoff. He gave Kristine a quick nod and the two took their positions for the puck drop.

The second the puck hit the ice, Kristine was in control. She passed it deftly back to Backstrom who snatched it up and took it down the rink with Ovechkin. She followed up behind them, ready to recover the puck if they lost it. Sure enough, Malkin shook Backstrom up enough to cause him to lose control of the puck. It dribbled behind him back toward the center ice line. Crosby raced over to snatch it up but Kristine was faster. She slid right in front of Crosby and grabbed the puck, shooting it down to the other end of the rink. It bounced off of the backboards and Ovechkin regained control of the puck. He sent a sprawling shot across to Backstrom who raised his stick and sent a slapper past the glove of Fleury.

"Yes!" shouted Kristine excitedly as she raced over to congratulate Backstrom and Ovechkin.

"First thirty seconds of the game baby!" shouted Ovechkin as he hugged the two forwards, "We're kickin' Penguin ass!"

After Ovechkin let the two young forwards go, Crosby skated over to Kristine.

"Sorry," said Kristine, looking sheepish.

"Sorry? That was a hell of a play," said Crosby with a smile, "Good work rookie…looks like you're more to handle than I thought."

Kristine beamed under his praise and raced back over to the bench for the line change. She was starting to feel more comfortable on the ice and in her abilities as a hockey player. Despite the argument with Green, the beginning of this game was going very well…

…

By the third period the game was tied one to one. Crosby had scored in the second period thanks to a quick pass by Malkin and some confusion on the Capitals defensive line. There were only three minutes left in the game and the teams were beginning to feel the pressure of needing to score the winning goal. Three minutes flew by and neither team was able to push past the others' defensive line and score a goal.

"Overtime," sighed Backstrom, "It's do or die now…let's do it!"

"Come on we got this!" shouted Perreault.

"I want my snipers out there," ordered Coach Boudreau, "Ovechkin, Backstrom, Perreault and Alvarez take the ice."

"That's all forwards, Coach," said Mike Green, looking a little put-out, "Shouldn't we put a defensive guy out there?"

"We're only allowed four players in overtime and I want as many snipers out there as possible," explained Boudreau, "You and Semin will take the lead on the next shift if they can't score in theirs."

Green nodded, still looking a little put-out as he sat down on the bench and watched the lines assemble at center ice.

Backstrom was chosen for the faceoff along with Sydney Crosby for the Penguins. Backstrom's hands shook slightly as he came within a couple inches of Crosby. Sydney frowned a little when he saw the memories of last season playing out in Backstrom's nervous gaze. He gave the young forward an encouraging nod as they got into position.

Backstrom won the faceoff and slid the puck over to Ovechkin. He took it down the ice along with Alvarez while Perreault and Backstrom followed hard behind them. Ovechkin soon found himself being double-teamed by Malkin and Crosby. All his shooting and passing lanes were quickly closed off and the Penguins regained control of the puck. He cursed as they chased the Penguins down the rink and thwarted their offensive attempts.

After two more line changes, the Ovechkin, Backstrom, Perrault and Alvarez line was out again for the last minute of overtime.

"Nicklas," hissed Kristine as she skated over to him, "Win the faceoff and drop the puck back to me…I'll make things happen, just like in practice that day, remember?"

Backstrom nodded, "Alright, get in an open lane."

The second the puck dropped, Backstrom moved with cat-like reflexes, flicking the puck over to Kristine. She snatched up the puck with ease and began to race down the ice. Instantly Malkin and Crosby covered Ovechkin to ensure that she couldn't pass the puck to him. Kristine cursed under her breath at the Penguins' intelligent move. As she approached the Penguins' net, one of their defensemen slid in front of her, blocking her open shooting channel. Kristine moved deftly as the defenseman tried to poke check the puck away. Using her unique skill, Kristine maneuvered the puck just out of the defenseman's grasp and kept it moving up the center of the rink where she wanted to be.

Kristine heard the sound of someone slapping their stick on the ice. Immediately she knew it was Varlamov…he was warning them that time was running out on the clock. Just as Kristine was nearly on top of the Penguins net, she moved suddenly to the side and slid easily around the defenseman. She heard him curse loudly as she took a quick wrister top shelf and watched the puck slide in.

Instantly the crowd roared with delight as sirens blared loudly and red lights flickered all around the rink. The Capitals bench cleared as they skated over to congratulate Kristine on her game-winning goal. Kristine was in shock…she had just scored not only her first goal in the NHL in her first game, but it was also the game-winning goal in an overtime game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It literally did not get any better than that.

The Capitals surrounded her in an excited throng as they all congratulated one another on another victory. After awhile they moved to line up near center ice to shake hands with the Penguins players. Kristine saw the animosity the Penguins gave her as they begrudgingly shook her hand. She just rolled her eyes and laughed at them as she moved down the line.

Malkin grabbed her and shook it enthusiastically, "That was a sweet move! Good game!"

"You too!" called Kristine, smiling happily at the praise from the young Penguins' forward.

"You're amazing," said Crosby, his face beaming with admiration as he shook Kristine's hand and pulled her in for a hug, "I'll see you after while."

Kristine nodded and hugged him back before she skated over to join the rest of her team as they raised their sticks in the air in victory and listened to the crowd roar their approval.

So far things were going extremely well in Kristine's mind. There was no better way for her to join the NHL than to start off by winning her first game. But as she glanced over and saw Mike Green slinking away toward the locker room, his eyes dark and troubled, Kristine remembered that not everything was quite so perfect…

…

**Please Review!**


	6. Writing on the Wall

**Thank you as always to those who are reading! Just a heads up I will be heading up to see the Caps play the Panthers this weekend so I won't be writing any more until Monday. Enjoy! And LET'S GO CAPS!**

"Hey it's the woman of the hour!" announced Perreault as Kristine walked through the front door of a local pub downtown.

The entire Capitals team was there celebrating their victory over the Penguins. They cheered and whistled loudly as Kristine made her entrance, blushing under all the attention and praise.

"Welcome to the party!" yelled Ovechkin over the pounding music, "Drinks are on the house!"

Kristine perked up at that and followed her captain over to the bar and ordered a beer.

"Do you guys do this every time you win?" she asked, eyes wide with astonishment as she watched her teammates dancing, drinking and being obnoxious.

Ovechkin laughed, "Nah just after the really big games! I'm gonna hit the dance floor with a couple of those lovely ladies over there…I'll catch you later!"

Kristine smirked in amusement as she watched Ovechkin make a bee-line for a pair of good-looking blondes. She glanced around the room, watching the spectacle and couldn't help but laugh to herself. Earlier at practice and before the game that night things had been incredibly tense, but now here they were, drinking and dancing the night away. This was much more Kristine's speed. It reminded her of her college days and all the long, wild nights where you drank your fears away and danced away the stress.

But as Kristine surveyed the room, she noticed Mike Green sitting by himself on the far side of the bar sipping on what looked like his third beer of the night. She frowned when she saw the same troubled look in his dark eyes. Despite the fact that the two had nearly come to blows before the game earlier, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the defenseman. He looked miserable and deeply troubled about something.

Squaring her shoulders, Kristine stood up from her bar stool and made her way around the throng of dancing players and girls and slid in next to Mike green. Mike looked up and blinked at her in surprise.

"Hey," he said after a long moment.

"Hi," replied Kristine, studying his face for a moment before she continued, "Um…about what happened before the game…"

"Don't apologize," he said, looking away, "I overreacted…don't worry about it."

Kristine frowned, "What's bothering you? I mean…you never talk to me, you always look stressed and worried…did I do something?"

Mike laughed darkly at that, "Uh, no not really…it's not _you_ necessarily."

"Then what is it?" pressed Kristine, an annoyed edge to her voice, "Because it obviously has to do with me in some way. Is it because I'm a girl? Do you have an issue with a girl being in the NHL? If you do that's fine you aren't the first, believe me on that one."

"It was at first," said Green as he ordered another beer, "You're good I can't deny that much. I guess I was more concerned with our image and how the fans would react to you being on our team. I didn't think you were capable of holding your own out there but you did…so congratulations."

"Thanks," said Kristine, narrowing her eyes in confusion, "Okay so if it's not that then what is it? Is it Sidney Crosby? You act really weird whenever you're anywhere near him or if someone even mentions his name."

Mike instantly tensed up. His jaw clamped tight and his hand gripped the beer bottle so tight Kristine feared it would shatter. The anger that danced in Mike's eyes alarmed her and she felt herself swallowing nervously.

"Yes…it has to do with him," he said in a low, tense voice, "It has _everything_ to do with him."

"What? What is it, Mike?" pressed Kristine as she leaned in close, "Please tell me…I need to know. If there's something about him that's off I need to know before I get any closer to him."

Mike looked up sharply at that, his eyes boring into hers, "Are you? Are you really going to pursue something with him?"

"Unless you give me a reason not to then yes I probably will," replied Kristine carefully, "He's a great guy Mike…he was so kind to me today and he wants to see me again."

Mike shook his head and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

"So what is it?" asked Kristine as she reached out and touched Mike's arm, "What is it? Is he a druggie? An alcoholic? A womanizer? What?"

Mike shook his head again, "I can't tell you…all that I can tell you is that you shouldn't go anywhere near him, Kristine. Stay as far away from him as you can."

"Why can't you tell me?" asked Kristine, beginning to become annoyed with Mike, "If you can't give me one decent reason as to why I should stay away from him then I won't."

Mike shook his head again and stared down at the bar. Just then the door opened and they both looked up to see who it was. Green cursed loudly and slammed his bottle on the bar when he made eye-contact with Sidney Crosby.

"What the hell is he doing here?" he snarled.

"He said he wanted to see me later," answered Kristine, "I ran into him in the parking lot after the game and told him where I'd be so I guess he decided to show up. It's a public bar Mike, he can do what he wants."

Green muttered something about that as Kristine stood up to go meet Sidney. Mike reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Just…be careful," he said, his eyes pleading, "Okay? Just be careful."

Kristine felt a tremor of fear course through her as she saw the fear and uncertainty in Mike's eyes. She nodded and pulled away, making her way through the crowd over to where Crosby was standing. Ovechkin beat her to it and she froze, suddenly afraid of what her captain's reaction would be to seeing Sidney Crosby at their after party. She was pleasantly surprised to see them talk briefly before shaking hands and patting each other on the back. Ovechkin said something and Crosby laughed as he walked passed him and headed over to Kristine.

"Hey you," he said as he hugged her, "Great game tonight…you've got a lot of potential!"

Kristine beamed under his praise as she finally pulled away from his embrace, "Thank you…you aren't so bad yourself you know. You and Evengi Malkin timed that pass just right."

Crosby shrugged, "Nah it wasn't as good as your slick move in overtime."

Kristine smiled as she felt him reach down to take her hand and lead her to the center of the room where everyone was dancing.

Nicklas Backstrom froze when he saw Crosby leading Kristine out onto the dance floor. He immediately looked over to where Mike was sitting at the bar and the two friends exchanged knowing looks. Mike looked very agitated and nervous and now Backstrom understood why. Despite his claims to being a changed man, Nicklas was doubtful.

"Hey Nicklas," said Crosby as he and Kristine passed, "Good game tonight!"

Nicklas just nodded as he turned and headed toward the bar. He slid in next to Mike Green and ordered a beer, "I may need another here soon," he warned the bartender as he turned to face Mike, "So…what the hell do we do now?"

Mike shrugged, "What _can_ we do? I mean look at them…she's literally falling in love with the guy on the dance floor. They barely know each other, hell she doesn't have a clue as to who he really is. He's gonna destroy her."

"And maybe the team," muttered Nicklas, "If he tries to use her I'm gonna go off."

"Not before I do," snarled Mike, "I'll rip his guts out and use them to oil the Zamboni."

Backstrom grimaced at that mental image as he took another sip of beer, "Well we all agreed after last season to put everything behind us and to keep what happened to ourselves so we're technically sworn to secrecy."

Mike rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Yeah I know…it's stupid. So basically we have to sit back and watch this disaster unfold in front of us and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"It's like watching a car wreck," added Nicklas as he took a long swig of beer, "And I really don't want to stick around for the crash."

…

"It's getting late," said Crosby after a couple hours, "Wanna head back to my place for a bite to eat?"

Kristine felt her insides flutter at the thought of being alone with Sidney Crosby in his hotel room. She smiled excitedly and nodded in agreement. Sidney flashed her a dazzling smile as he lead her out of the crowded bar.

Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom watched their departure with fear in their eyes. They exchanged knowing glances and ordered more alcohol.

Mike shook his head sadly as he downed another beer, "And so it begins…"

…

**Please Review!**


	7. A Startling Confession

**Thank you sooooo much to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story! I apologize for the late update…I just got back in from DC today after watching the Caps destroy the Panthers! : ) I went to the practice rink and got to chill with Varlamov, Green and Laich and saw Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom! So weird seeing these guys in real life after writing fictional stories about them lol but they're all super nice and were happy to take pictures and sign autographs. LET'S GO CAPS!**

**Warning: Suggestive instances in this chapter, nothing hardcore or detailed but if you don't like don't read please! Again its nothing detailed at all just implied. **

**Enjoy!**

Kristine moaned as she rolled over in the rather large, plush, hotel bed. She smiled a little as she remembered last night. Sidney Crosby had shown up at the Capitals victory party and taken her back to his hotel room. They had started the evening rather simply: a little wine, talk and innocent flirting, then things began to heat up. Crosby had decided to try and make a move. They were sitting on the couch in his rather large hotel suite and he leaned over and gave her a light peck on the lips. Kristine felt a spark between them as he kissed her and moved closer to him to deepen the kiss. Before she knew what was happening she was stripped down to her bra and panties and lying in his bed. After a long night of love making, the two young forwards had fallen asleep in each others' arms.

Kristine smiled when she felt the strong, muscular arms of Sidney Crosby still wrapped firmly around her as he spooned her. She could hear his deep breathing and knew that he was still asleep. She sighed in contentment as she glanced up to look at the alarm clock. Instantly her eyes flew open in horror. They had forgotten to set the alarm. Practice for the Caps began in less than thirty minutes.

Kristine cursed loudly as she threw the covers off of her and wiggled out of Crosby's grasp. Crosby moaned a complaint and opened his eyes, squinting in the early morning light as he gave Kristine a confused look.

"What…what are you doing, babe?" he asked, his voice still rough and deep from sleep.

"Freakin' practice starts in twenty five minutes!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly put on her clothes and grabbed her purse, "I'm so sorry, but I've gotta go!"

"Here I'll give you a ride over," said Crosby as he quickly got out of bed and put on a shirt.

Kristine flashed him a grateful look as they rushed out the door and into Crosby's rental car.

…

"She's late again," said Ovechkin with a frown, "Wonder what's holding her up this time?"

Mike and Nicklas exchanged knowing looks.

"She left with Crosby last night," replied Semin, not looking up, "She probably spent the night at his place."

Mike Green cursed at that as he threw one of his gloves down on the ground.

"Mike, knock it off," said Semin, shooting Mike Green an annoyed look, "The guy might have really changed and it looks like Kristine likes him so lay off."

"Lay off?" sneered Green, "After what that asshole did to us last season? You expect me to let that go? I thought I'd lost one of my best friends! I thought our team was going to fall apart and you expect me to just pretend none of that ever happened?"

"News flash," retorted Semin, his eyes flashing with uncharacteristic anger, "We all went through that shit not just you! Stop acting like you're some special little victim and learn to deal with your issues."

"What the hell are you talking about?" snarled Green, "What issues?"

Semin sneered, "Oh please I'm not blind."

"To what?" said Green with an incredulous tone, "Please Semin, enlighten us."

Semin glanced around the locker room and saw that nearly everyone had stopped what they were doing and were listening in to the argument. He frowned a little at that realization. He didn't want to reveal Mike's well-guarded secret to the whole team but the defenseman was pushing his buttons.

Semin lowered his voice as he answered, "Your crush on Alvarez."

Green instantly turned another shade or two whiter at that. He took a shocked step backwards and gave Semin a startled look. Ovechkin and Backstrom were the only other two players that had heard Semin's accusation and they stared and Mike with shock and disbelief in their eyes.

"Dude is he for real?" asked Nicklas, "Do you…?"

Mike gritted his teeth and looked away, "What would it matter even if I did? She's in love with that jerk-off."

"What the hell Mikey?" asked Ovechkin, his eyes narrowed in confusion, "You were the only one who didn't want the girl on our team and now you're saying you have a _thing_ for her?"

Mike sighed, "So what? I didn't like her at first…I thought it was a terrible move for our team to have a girl on it but I was wrong. Then I started to notice her…she's good…and…beautiful. I don't know, it's just a stupid crush it's nothing serious, just drop it okay?"

"Who do you have a crush on?" asked Matt Bradley, overhearing part of their conversation.

The four best friends all froze, glancing at one another and wondering what they should say.

Bradley raised an eyebrow at their reaction, "Geez who the hell is it? I mean it's not like you have a thing for Alvarez or anything," he added with a laugh.

All four best friends looked down and away. Bradley's eyes grew round with shock as he assessed their reaction to his joke.

"What? Dude I was just kidding! You have a thing for Alvarez?"

"Shut up!" hissed Green as the rest of the team whirled around and looked at them.

"No way!" said Mathieu Perreault, "Greenie's got a thing for the girl?"

"Shit," muttered Green as he glared over at Bradley, "Thanks a lot."

Just then the locker room door opened and Kristine ran into the room. She was wearing the same outfit she had worn the night before at the party and her hair and makeup were a mess. She glanced around the locker room and was surprised to see horrified and shocked looks. Everyone was giving Mike Green sympathetic looks as they figured out what must have gone on last night after Kristine left the party with Crosby.

"Did I miss something?" asked Kristine as she gave them nervous and uncertain looks.

Ovechkin cleared his throat, "Uh, no…just suite up and hit the ice…all of you."

The team silently put on their gear and began to filter out onto the ice. Kristine watched them with bewilderment in her eyes. She glanced over at Backstrom who was lacing up his skates next to her.

"Did…did I do something wrong?" she asked quietly, "Everyone's acting weird and looking at me like I just murdered someone."

Backstrom glanced quickly over at Green before he replied, "Um…I think they're just surprised to see you wearing the same outfit you did last night at the party. It sort of gives away what you did afterwards…"

"Oh," said Kristine as she glanced away, blushing fiercely as she realized the entire team now knew she had slept with Crosby, "Well…it's not like it was a one night stand. We really like each other. He's a great guy you know."

Mike Green slammed his locker shut so loud that it was almost deafening in the small locker room. He whirled around and made a bee-line for the ice, trying to get as far away from this conversation as humanly possible.

Kristine's eyes were round with surprise, "Wow…I guess Mike's not too happy with me huh?"

Nicklas felt his jaw tighten. He wanted so badly to tell her what he knew…starting with what had happened last season.

"He's…he's not a big fan of Crosby," said Backstrom simply.

"And neither are you," said Kristine as she studied Backstrom's tense face, "Why is that? Mike won't tell me…I asked him at the party last night and he clammed up on me. He looked so pissed off though…I thought he was going to throw his beer bottle across the room or something."

Backstrom sighed as he stood up to leave, "Yeah…its…bad. But I can't tell you either."

"Then who can?" snapped Kristine, "I don't understand and no one will talk to me so I don't know what to do!"

"I'm sorry," muttered Backstrom as he turned to leave the locker room.

Kristine let out a hiss of frustration as she finished lacing up her skates and stormed out of the locker room. She was sick of all this stupid secrecy crap. All she wanted was a straight answer. Was that too much to ask?

…

**Please Review!**


	8. Awkward Position

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! : )**

Kristine could feel the tension from the other players as they boarded their private jet. They were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning the next day and had decided to leave a little earlier than usual so that they could wake up early the next morning for another practice before the game the next night.

Normally whenever the Capitals got on a plane they were in good spirits and planning the practical jokes they would pull throughout the flight. Today however, the team was unusually quiet and tense. Kristine frowned as she stayed near the back of the line. She had no clue who she would sit with on this flight. The entire team had made it rather obvious how they felt about her spending the night at Crosby's hotel room and apparently they were still not too pleased with her.

Kristine felt a flash of anger at all of them. It wasn't like none of them had never spent the night with a girl and showed up late to practice. It was just because this time it had to do with Sidney Crosby. She didn't even know what the hell that meant. Why did everyone hate him so much? Nicklas and Mike seemed to take their displeasure with the young Penguins captain to a whole new level and yet neither of them would tell her why. It pissed her off just thinking about it. How did they expect her to behave if she didn't know why they all hated him so much? As far as she was concerned he was the nicest guy she had ever met and until they could prove otherwise she was not going to stop seeing him.

Kristine waited nervously as the players filled in all the rows. Ovechkin and Semin sat next to each other while Green and Backstrom took the seats right behind them. Kristine breathed a sigh of relief at that. She couldn't bear having to sit next to Backstrom or Green…not now that she knew how much they hated Sidney. She glanced over across the aisle and saw that the seat next to Mathieu Perreault was open. He smiled warmly at her and patted it, inviting her to sit next to him. Kristine felt a rush of relief and smiled at the young, happy-go-lucky forward. He was the only player on the team that wasn't acting weird around her. She slid in next to him and sighed as she waited for the plane to taxi out.

Green was in the aisle seat directly across from her and she could feel his stare on her. Her jaw clenched a little as she turned her body to face Perreault.

Mike Green sighed as he observed the tension in Kristine's body. He felt a wave of nausea hit him as he thought about Sidney Crosby touching that body…holding her…loving her. It made him absolutely sick. He hated the thought of that snake touching her. He wanted to be the man that was touching her like that. He winced a little as he thought about how he had reacted in the locker room to her comments about Crosby. No wonder she was avoiding him and acting strange around him. Who could blame her? She was probably scared he'd fly off the handle or something. Mike sighed again and leaned his head back on the seat, closing his eyes as he felt a migraine coming on.

"You okay?" murmured Nicklas as he glanced at his friend.

Mike shook his head, "No," he said quietly as he stole another glance in Kristine's direction.

Nicklas frowned, "I'm sorry Greenie…I wish there was something I could do. It's obviously more than a silly crush if you're all miserable and upset over her."

Mike sighed, "I don't know Nicky…I don't know her well enough to seriously like her do I? I mean…it wouldn't make sense. I don't know why I feel this shitty."

"You're in love," said Backstrom matter-of-factly.

Mike shot him a look, "I don't know if I'd go that far."

"I would," said Backstrom as he flipped through a magazine, "Seems like it to me anyway…I say make a move."

Green sneered, "Yeah Crosby would love that wouldn't he?"

"Who cares? I say go for it," said Nicklas with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "I mean…we aren't doing anything tonight right? Just hanging out in the hotel until practice tomorrow morning. Make your move tonight."

"How?" asked Green, looking confused and uncertain, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You'll figure it out," replied Backstrom with an amused smirk, "You're a guy, she's a girl…not much else to explain."

Mike rolled his eyes, "Thanks you're a great help, Nicky."

"Anytime," replied Backstrom, laughing at his friend's expense.

…

"So what do I do?" asked Kristine in a hushed tone, "I mean…I really like Sidney but I don't want this to mess up our whole team. I don't even know why everyone's so uptight about him anyway."

Perreault gave Kristine a sympathetic look, "Some stuff happened last season. It was pretty bad…but I mean if he changed then he changed and I think everyone should move on and accept it. Sometimes people don't like change. Just give them all some time and hopefully they'll come around."

Kristine nodded, feeling a little more relieved at Perreault's advice, "Thanks Mathieu…you're the only one on this plane that wants to talk to me I think."

Perreault rolled his eyes, "Well that's stupid…they'll grow up eventually I guess."

Kristine smirked at that and rested her head on the back of her seat as the plane prepared to take off…

…

A few hours later Kristine opened the door to her hotel room in Tampa Bay, Florida and sighed as she flopped down on the bed. It had been a long, tense, awkward flight to Florida and all she wanted to do was be alone for a few hours.

Coach Boudreau had given them all free reign for the evening with a nine o'clock curfew. He wanted them all to get plenty of rest for practice early the next morning.

Kristine glanced at the clock and saw that it was only seven. She could hear the excited voices of Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin as they rallied the team together for some kind of event. Kristine frowned as she reached over and hugged a pillow close to her chest. She already assumed she wouldn't be invited to whatever this event was. They wouldn't want her around…she'd probably end up bringing the mood down just by her very presence. A flash of anger followed by a sense of despair hit her just as her phone went off. It was a text from Sidney:

_Hey baby! Hope you're doing okay…good luck at your game tomorrow. I'll see you when we meet up in Pittsburgh next week for the next game : )_

Kristine smiled as she mentally counted down how many more days it would be before she got to see him again. Just then, someone knocked on her door.

"Come in!" she called as she sat up on the bed.

Nicklas Backstrom walked hesitantly into the room and glanced over at her, "Um, hey…we're all gonna go downtown and get some food, maybe a couple of drinks or something if you wanted to come."

Kristine smiled sadly, "It's probably best if I stay here."

Backstrom gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry things are the way they are Kristine…and I wish I could tell you…I just can't. I promised I wouldn't say anything. Just know that…we don't hate you. We're just scared that the past may repeat itself and we don't want to see you get hurt or any of us get hurt."

"I wish I knew what you were talking about," said Kristine, giving him a puzzled look.

"I know," said Nicklas quietly as he turned to leave, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

Kristine let out a frustrated sigh as Backstrom left. She prayed this wasn't how things were going to be for her and the team forever. She knew there was no way that she'd be able to stay with them if this is how it was going to be…it just wouldn't work out. Kristine reached over for her pillow and curled up on the bed. Her stomach had started hurting and she could feel the beginning of a headache right behind her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a shaky breath as she fought back the emotion that was beginning to overwhelm her…

**Please Review!**


	9. Dangerously In Love

**I decided to update again because I've wanted to write this chapter for quite some time! Thank you to those who are reading and reviewing and as always: LET'S GO CAPS! Keep Rocking the Red!**

**Note: Song lyrics at the end of the chapter are from a song called "All Her Love" by Donnell Jones…I figured the lyrics were appropriate for this chapter : ) Enjoy!**

A few minutes later there was another knock on Kristine's door. She hurriedly wiped a couple stray tears from her eyes and tried to compose herself.

"Come in!" she called, sitting up and brushing the wrinkles out of her shirt.

Mike Green entered the room and turned the corner. He paused when he saw Kristine look up, her eyes round with surprise and disbelief. His heart broke a little when he noticed how shiny her eyes were and the slightly smeared makeup around her eyes.

"Kristine…" he began, his eyes soft with apology and guilt as he walked over toward the bed, "I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to make things so hard for you. I didn't know you were this upset."

Kristine swallowed nervously as Mike sat down on the edge of the bed about a foot away from her, "Its fine…I can deal with it."

Mike raised an eyebrow at that, "Right…that's why you're sitting here alone in a hotel room while the rest of the team is out having fun?"

Kristine shot him a look, "I could say the same about you…why didn't you go?"

Mike shrugged as he looked away, "Guess I just wasn't really in the mood."

"Same," agreed Kristine as she glanced down at the floor, "Did you, um, need something?"

Mike took a deep breath and sighed, "Um…yeah. You want the truth about why we don't like Crosby right?"

Kristine nodded, her eyes alight with interest as she sat up straighter.

"Well…I'm going to tell you the truth. I know it's gonna probably get me into a bit of trouble with the guys but it's better than letting things continue the way they are. So…I'm going to tell you everything. Just…brace yourself because it's not very pretty."

Kristine swallowed nervously, "Okay…go ahead, I'm ready."

Mike began by telling Kristine all about the old rivalry with the Penguins and the Capitals and how it had started as more of a friendly affair until an accident occurred between Ovechkin and Crosby during tryouts for the NHL. Ovechkin had tripped up Crosby and nearly cost the young forward his future career. While the incident had been nothing more than just a simple mistake, Crosby took it upon himself to get revenge. He and Ovechkin had been sworn enemies since then and could never manage to get along. Things escalated game after game and eventually Crosby went off the deep end with the rivalry. He enticed Nicklas Backstrom to become a spy for the Penguins and to give him all the inside scoop on the Capitals plays, practices and rosters as well as lists of injuries and changes in line-ups before each game. Backstrom eventually was rewarded by becoming the alternate captain for the Penguins hockey team. After a few games Backstrom was forced to attack Mathieu Perreault in an attempt to knock him out of the game and secure a Penguins victory. Backstrom was so distraught over what he had done that he dropped the deal with Crosby and came back to the Capitals. After awhile the team had managed to accept Backstrom back and forgave him for what had happened. Crosby had been so close to destroying the Capitals and ruining Backstrom's life. It was something that the Capitals had never been able to forget and that was why everyone was so distraught by Kristine's new relationship with Crosby.

"We're afraid you're going to end up getting hurt," concluded Green, "We're scared he's going to use you and manipulate you like he did to Nicky…no one wants to see you get hurt and no one wants to see our team put back into the same position we were in last season. That's why we all pretty much hate Crosby."

Kristine ran a hand through her long, dark brown hair. Her green eyes were wide with shock as she tried to absorb all of the information that Mike had just told her.

"But…he said he's changed," she said, in somewhat of a denial, "He's not that guy anymore."

"Kristine all that took place only four months ago," urged Green, his eyes pleading for her to understand, "You can't change that quickly…there's no way he's any different than he was last year. No way in hell. The guy is a snake…he always will be. That's just how he is…it's _who_ he is."

Kristine put her head in her hands and shook her head slowly as she looked up, "I just…that doesn't even sound like the same Sidney I know. It doesn't even sound possible."

"If you don't believe me, ask him," suggested Mike with a sigh, "I'm sure his facial expression when you question him about it will tell you all you need to know."

Kristine nodded, "I will…so…is that why you hate me so much? Because I like Sidney?"

Mike glanced away, swallowing nervously before he replied, "I don't hate you…not at all. I hate _him_ and I think you deserve a lot better than Crosby."

Kristine noticed the sad glimmer in Mike's eyes and gave him a curious look. Mike glanced up and made eye-contact with her and felt himself drowning in the emerald depths of her eyes. His heart beat quickened as he gazed at her.

Kristine felt her heart skip a beat as Mike's sad, brown eyes seemed to look right through her. Suddenly she understood the sadness, the look of loss in his eyes. Before she could say anything or even react, Mike leaned forward and suddenly they were kissing. His soft lips met hers and she felt the back of his hand slide through her hair to the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Her world seemed to spin around her and she didn't know what to do. Finally as she gathered her wits about her she pulled away, giving Mike a shocked look.

"I…I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that…that was stupid," stammered Mike, his eyes wide with surprise as he realized what he had just done, "Damn it I told Nicky this was a bad idea!"

"What?" asked Kristine, still trying to catch her breath, "What did Nicky tell you to do?"

"Nothing," said Mike as he stood up quickly to leave, "This was…this was a mistake I'm sorry…it won't happen again."

"Mike!" called Kristine as the door slammed closed behind him.

She jumped off of the bed and ran out into the hallway to try and catch him but he had already gone into his room and closed the door. She ran down the hall and banged on the door.

"Mike! Come on, Mike, talk to me!" she called.

She felt the tears coming when he didn't reply. This time, she didn't even bother trying to stop them. Her emotions were all over the place. Mike had just told her the secret about Sidney and then kissed her. It was so overwhelming she didn't know what to do.

"Mike!" she called out through the tears, "Please…"

Mike winced at the sound of Kristine's strained voice on the other side of the door. He wanted nothing more than to open the door and bring her into his room and finish what he had started in hers. But he knew deep down that it was wrong. She was dating Crosby…despite the fact that he was an asshole Mike respected her enough to not violate their relationship…anymore than he already had that is. He listened for a moment more and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her leave, choking back sobs as she went back to her room.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself as he collapsed on his bed, "What the hell have you done, Mike?"

…

_She's got a man, another situation__  
__I understand that's how it's got to be__  
__Ain't trying to cause her no complications__  
__I'd walk away, but I'm in too deep__  
__I can't make no plans, got me so frustrated__  
__'Cause in my heart I want you desperately__  
__Done ran away from all the girls I've been dating__  
__When I'm with them, it's only you I see__  
__And she promised me that it would take some time__  
__But she would leave him alone__  
__And the thought of her loving only me__  
__That's the thing that keeps me strong__…_

…

**Please Review!**


	10. Distracted

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! : ) Just a short installment here…more of a transitional chapter leading up to the big game in the next one. Enjoy!**

Kristine walked into the Tampa Bay Lightning's away team locker room the next morning. She slipped inside and made her way over to a free spot on a bench near Eric Fehr and Nicklas Backstrom and sat down. She began to put on her skates, not making eye-contact with anyone. The dark circles under her eyes had been lightened thanks to the magic of makeup but she knew it would be obvious that she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and she didn't want to cause another stir. She knew Coach and Ovechkin wouldn't be pleased if they knew she had pulled an all-nighter.

Kristine glanced up hesitantly as she finished lacing her skates. Her eyes scanned the locker room and she was surprised to see that Mike wasn't there.

"He's already out on the ice," said Backstrom as if he were reading her mind, "He came in a few minutes early…said something about needed to skate around for awhile to clear his mind."

Kristine nodded, "Oh…okay."

Nicklas studied her for a moment and noticed the slightly dark circles under her glassy eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she looked exhausted.

"Long night?" he asked after a moment.

Kristine fumbled with her skates nervously, "Um…yeah, I guess."

"Something happen while the rest of us were away?" he pressed as he leaned in closer, "I mean…you and Mike were the only two that stayed behind and you're both acting weird this morning."

Kristine swallowed nervously, "Ask Mike…I don't want to talk about it."

Nicklas watched as Kristine stood up quickly and made a bee-line for the ice rink. The last thing she wanted to do was to hang around the ever-curious Nicklas Backstrom on a morning like this. The second she skated out onto the ice she caught sight of Mike. He was at one end of the rink shooting pucks at the empty net. She frowned as she watched him send each puck flying into the net. He looked stressed out and possibly angry.

"Kristine I want you and Brooksy and Sasha to work on some one on one drills," ordered Ovechkin as he spotted Kristine staring down the rink at Mike. He knew he had to do something to keep those two separated. The last thing he needed was some sort of blow up right before a big game.

Kristine nodded as Alex Semin and Brooks Laich skated up to her. She felt a little overwhelmed being paired up with two very talented players.

"Alright girlie let's do some work," said Brooks Laich as he passed her a puck, "Let's see how you deal with two veterans, eh?"

Kristine took a shaky breath and nodded as she passed the puck back to Laich and moved into position in front of the players. She skated backwards, watching as Brooks Laich and Semin passed the puck back and forth, trying to move around her outstretched stick.

Out of the corner of Kristine's eye she caught sight of Mike as he turned to look down the rink at her. The sad, despairing gleam was in his eyes again and Kristine felt her heart clench at the sight.

"Goal!" roared Semin as he slid around Kristine and put the puck in the net.

Kristine cursed herself for not paying attention. Now she looked incompetent in front of two senior ranking members of the team.

"You alright?" asked Laich, "Normally no one can get around you like that."

"Yeah, sorry," muttered Kristine, blushing with embarrassment, "I just wasn't focusing. I'll do better next time."

Laich frowned a little but nodded as he and Semin set up the drill again. This time, Kristine poke-checked Semin and moved the puck to the other side of the rink. Laich and Semin couldn't match her speed and Kristine slid the puck into the other net with a satisfactory clink as it hit the cross bar.

"That's the Alvarez I know," said Laich with a smile, "Good work kiddo."

Kristine smiled as Laich praised her and Semin gave her a playful punch in the shoulder. She glanced over and saw Mike watching from just a few feet away and felt the familiar pang in her heart. He glanced away sharply and skated away to talk to Ovechkin. Kristine frowned but shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. She had to push her thoughts about Mike to the side for now and work on getting ready for the game tonight.

Meanwhile, Mike Green skated over to Ovechkin for more orders.

"Greenie I want you, Nicky and Perreault to work on some one on one drills as well on this side of the ice," said Ovechkin as he pointed out the chosen players, "The rest of you work on puck handling skills down here with me."

Green skated over to the other end of the rink with Nicklas Backstrom and Mathieu Perreault. Backstrom glanced over his shoulder and saw that Ovechkin and Coach Boudreau were busy assisting with some puck handling drills and weren't paying them any attention.

"So what happened last night?" asked Nicklas once they were safely away from the rest of the team, "And don't lie to me because I know something went down…Kristine looked like a freaking train wreck this morning."

Mike sighed, "Yeah…something happened."

Mathieu looked up quickly, "Oh, don't tell me you two…"

"No, hell no," said Green quickly, "I'm not _that _ stupid…no, I kissed her."

"Well? Did she kiss back?" asked Nicklas, his eyes dancing with excitement.

"Yeah…for a minute," said Green as he sent a puck sailing toward the net, "Then she pulled away once she figured out what she was doing and looked so scared…I'm such an idiot! She'll never want to talk to me again. I'm such an asshole."

"Holy shit," muttered Mathieu in shock, "So…what happens now? I mean…have you guys talked since then?"

"No," muttered Green, "It might be better that way…like I said she probably hates me. She's dating Crosby so it's not like she's gonna be crying over me anytime soon. I'm sure she'll be back to her normal self soon enough and things will go on as if this never happened."

"Aw, Mike," said Nicklas as he put an arm around his friend's shoulders, "I'm sorry, man."

"Wait it gets worse," muttered Green, "I sort of told her about…about Crosby."

Nicklas pulled away instantly, "What? You…you told her…but, I thought…what?"

"I know, I know," muttered Green, "I know…but what else could I do? It's the only thing I could think to do to make her see him in a different light."

"Holy shit," said Mathieu, "Mike…you're in deep man. What'd she say?"

"That she'd confront him about it next time they see each other."

"Which is?" asked Nicklas.

"I'm guessing next week when we're in Pittsburgh to play the Pens in their home rink," muttered Green, "God I'm not looking forward to seeing that asshole's face again."

"So…what do we do? Do we tell Ovi that she knows?" asked Mathieu, suddenly looking nervous.

"No," said Green looking sharply over at Perreault, "Just keep it on the down-low okay? She's not going to say anything to anyone else. Just keep it quiet and let it go."

Nicklas nodded in agreement, "Yeah…alright. But…it's not like your feelings for her are going to just disappear, Greenie. What are _you_ going to do?"

Mike shrugged, "I'm just going to have to let it go…it's not like I ever had a shot anyway."

Perreault frowned sadly, "I'm sorry, man…that sucks hardcore."

"I'll deal," said Green.

"Hey! Gossip queens!" shouted Coach Boudreau, "Are you going to get to work or stand there shooting the damn breeze all morning?"

The three players flinched as they scrambled to set up a practice run of a one on one drill. Mike forced himself to focus the rest of the morning on practicing for the big game that night, but try as he might he couldn't force Kristine from his mind. He was falling for a girl he could never be with…and it hurt like hell…

…

**Please Review! **


	11. Throwing the Game

**Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! I'm so glad you guys like this so much! : )**

"Start praying," muttered Eric Fehr to Mike Knuble, "I hear something went down with Green and Alvarez and now they aren't talking."

"Damn it," muttered the team's second alternate captain, Mike Knuble, "They're on the same line too. Hopefully they'll communicate out on the ice."

"Alright boys and lady gather around!" announced Coach Boudreau as he walked into the locker room.

The team gathered together in a huddle formation to listen to Coach Boudreau. Kristine squeezed through the bodies of two players and joined the huddle. She glanced over and saw that one of the players she was squeezed in next to was Mike. He inched away from her immediately and looked away, his jaw tight with tension. Kristine gritted her teeth in annoyance and his reaction. Why couldn't they just deal with their issue instead of ignoring one another?

"Listen up!" roared Boudreau, "This is a big game, it's a division match up with a team that's pretty damn good, but you know what? I think you're all a hell of a lot better than that damn Lightning!"

The team cheered in agreement as Boudreau continued.

"All right! Let's get out there and kick some ass!"

"Let's do it!" roared Ovechkin as he led the charge out onto the ice.

As the team poured out onto the ice, the loud boos echoed throughout the arena. The Capitals welcomed the chorus of boos and laughed them off, knowing that the other team's fans were booing because they knew how good the Capitals were and feared that their team wouldn't be able to hold their own against them.

The rink was dark and the blue and white lights bounced off the shiny ice surface as the Tampa Bay Lightning roared out of their locker room and took their places on their end of the rink. The crowd roared while the teams warmed up before the game began. Mike and Kristine made eye-contact as they circled around, warming up their muscles before the first period. Kristine gave him a questioning look but Mike just frowned and turned away. Kristine slapped her stick on the ice in frustration as the referee blew the whistle to call the teams to order. It was time for the first face off of the night.

…

Half way through the first period the score was still zero to zero. Ovechkin's line was up for the next faceoff. Backstrom was chosen for the faceoff and Perreault, Alvarez and Green made up the rest of the line and arranged themselves around the faceoff dot on the Capitals side of the rink.

Backstrom won the faceoff and sent the puck over to Green. The team raced up the ice and Green slid the puck over to Perreault. Perreault was instantly overwhelmed by the Lightning's defensemen and made a quick wrister back over to Green. Kristine had made her way to the net and had an open position right in front of the goalie. One of the defenseman was shoving her rather roughly, trying to unbalance her. Kristine held her ground and glanced down the ice. She saw Mike making his way through to the net and she felt herself beginning to freeze up again. He looked up and saw her, causing him to hesitate before he shot the puck at the net. It was easily batted down by one of the Tampa Bay players and they made a rush back to the other end of the rink.

Kristine heard Ovechkin curse as they raced back to try and get the puck back. But it was too late…the Lightning had struck and the puck sailed past Varlamov's outstretched glove.

"Oh come on!" shouted Ovechkin as he shot an annoyed look at Green, "What the hell happened? You froze out there! You had a clear passing lane to Alvarez and…"

Ovechkin's voice trailed off as he realized what must have caused Green to freeze like that, "Ah, Mike…come on let it go for now okay? Just try?"

Mike nodded curtly as he headed back to the bench, purposefully sliding in on the opposite side of Kristine. She glanced over at him and sighed. This was promising to be a very long night…

…

By the third period the Capitals were down two to zero. There were only about eight minutes left in the game and the team wasn't looking any better.

"What the hell is wrong with us?" asked a very distraught and frustrated looking Chimera, "This is ridiculous! Get your act together guys!"

"Oh please it's not us!" shouted Andrew Gordon, "We all know what's wrong…its Ovechkin's line and two certain people who can't seem to get over their personal shit and play hockey!"

"Why don't you go screw yourself Gordon!" growled Mike Green as he glared daggers at the young player on the other end of the bench.

"Why don't you go score a goal or two?" shouted Gordon, "Or are you too distracted out there to do your job?"

"Everybody shut up!" roared Ovechkin, "Just do what we always do…we can still tie this up! Let's suck it up and play hockey!"

The team grew eerily quiet as Ovechkin and his line took to the ice. Kristine stayed as far away from Mike as she could. She could feel the accusing glares from her teammates back at the bench. She couldn't blame them…they were right. The most effective goal-scoring line was screwed up because of her and Mike and their inability to deal with their personal lives off of the ice. If they lost this game…she knew whose fault it would be.

As Backstrom won the faceoff he sent the puck over to Ovechkin. Together the two friends raced off down the ice and toward the net. Kristine put herself in an open channel and called out to Alex. He looked up and sent a wrister her way. Kristine moved to take a shot but was unpleasantly surprised by three defensemen. The Lightning had come to this game prepared…they had heard about her and decided to throw extra defenseman on her to prevent her from using her fancy tricks to get around them. Kristine let out a hiss of frustration as she turned to see who else was open.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Mike Green. She took a deep breath and sent a saucer pass to him. Unfortunately her moment's hesitation cost her. Just as Green snatched the puck a Lightning player rammed into him, knocking him to the ice. He fell hard and didn't get back up. The Tampa Bay team raced toward the Capital's side of the arena and sent a quick wrister through the five-hole.

"Where's the whistle!" shouted Kristine, anger boiling over as she glanced over to where Mike was still lying on the ice, "Are you freaking blind? You asshole he's on the ice! That's a freaking penalty you idiot!"

"Number 88, two minutes for un-sportsman-like conduct!" roared the ref as he shot an angry glare in Kristine's direction.

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me!" screeched an outraged Kristine Alvarez as she was led to the penalty box.

Kristine sat down and threw her stick at the penalty box door in anger. She couldn't believe the ref just put her in the box for that and yet he wouldn't call the check to Mike Green. She glanced over and saw that the trainers were out on the ice helping Mike hobble back to the bench. He glanced over at the penalty box and gave Kristine a small smile of gratitude for sticking up for him. Kristine returned the smile, her heart skipping a beat in surprise. That was the first real contact she had had with Green since the incident in the hotel room the night before.

At the end of the game the Lightning won four to zero. They scored their fourth goal during Kristine's uncalled for penalty, thereby sealing the win for their team.

The Capitals slunk back into the visitor's locker room with their heads down in defeat. Kristine was in a retched mood. She threw her stick into the lockers and ripped off her gloves. She tossed her helmet across the locker room and watched it clatter loudly to the floor.

"I don't know what you're so pissed about," sneered Andrew Gordon, "You practically lost the game for us so don't take out your anger on the rest of us."

In that moment, Kristine snapped. The combination of no sleep, excessive stress and emotional duress exploded right then and there. She whirled around and grabbed Gordon around the throat, slamming him into the lockers. Andrew's eyes grew wide with shock as Kristine's hands tightened around his throat.

"Shut up!" she shouted, her eyes wild in fury, "Just shut the hell up! I'm sick of this shit! Sick of it! Alright? I can't do everything! I can't carry this whole team! I'm having a bad night and could have used some back up! What about your line Andrew? Why couldn't you score a damn goal? Don't blame this whole thing on me!"

"Whoa, calm down," said Matt Bradley as he put an arm over Kristine's arms and pried her away from Andrew Gordon, "Take it easy…there you go, just take a step back, take a deep breath and it'll be okay. Take it easy, Alvarez. Gordon can be an asshole but we still need him alive."

Kristine took a deep, shaky breath as she stepped away from Gordon. She put her hands on her head and shook it in despair. She felt the tears begin to fall down her face and she whirled around and made a bee-line for the door.

Mike frowned as he watched her leave, knowing that all of this was his fault. He had put way too much on Kristine's mind way too fast before a big game. He mentally cursed himself and wished he could go back and change what he had done. More than anything though he wished he could get rid of Sidney Crosby…it always came back to him. It was always Crosby…

Mike snarled in anger and through his gear down on the ground. The team tensed up, waiting for another explosion, but Mike just put his arm on the locker in front of him and leaned on it, trying to keep his composure as he fought back a wave of emotion. This was beginning to affect the entire team now…he had to do something to stop it...but what?

…

**Please Review!**


	12. Confirmation and Confusion

**Thank you as always to everyone who is reading and reviewing! I'm updating a lot because I have to head back to college this Sunday and won't be able to write much at all once I'm there so I wanna try and get as much in as I can before I leave (hopefully finish it too if I'm lucky). Gotta start packing some tomorrow…ugh lol **

**A note to my fellow Caps fans: So sorry about our loss tonight…we came back from a 3 to 0 deficit, tied the game, then lost in overtime…that was painful to watch. Tomorrow night's the big game against Tampa Bay…let's pray we win that one!**

**Enjoy!**

_One week later…_

The next several days were filled with long practices and a series of losing games for the Capitals. They had lost the past three games in a row and Coach Boudreau decided to punish them by working them all to the bone at every practice. Some of the players even vomited during the never-ending suicide skates and the puck handling drills.

The team, although no one was brave enough to say it after what Kristine did to Andrew Gordon, blamed Mike Green and Kristine Alvarez for the unnecessary tension and lack of communication out on the ice. Although Kristine agreed with them to a certain degree, she also knew this team didn't operate based only on her state of being. There were plenty of other players on the Capitals team and none of them were performing the way they had been at the beginning of the season. The Caps were in a rut and everyone knew it.

Kristine, meanwhile, was extremely nervous as she drove up to Sidney Crosby's house in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in a little Honda Civic rental car. He had asked to see her once the Caps got in town for the big game the next day and she was more than happy to comply…except for the fact that she was about to confront him about what Mike had told her. She steeled herself as she walked up the long driveway and approached the front door. Whatever happened she had to know the truth…she needed to know if what Mike said was true and if so she needed to know whether or not Sidney had changed since then.

"Hey baby!" said Sidney as he flashed her a dazzling smile and pulled her into a warm hug, "God I missed you! How are you? I hear you guys aren't doing so well at the moment."

Kristine sighed as she melted into Sidney Crosby's embrace, "Don't ask," she muttered, "And yeah…we suck right now."

"What's going on?" he asked as he pulled away and studied her troubled face.

"There's a lot of drama in the locker room, let's put it that way," mumbled Kristine as she rolled her eyes, "You know how it is…things just get…messed up sometimes. Anyway, I had something I wanted to talk to you about if that's okay?"

"Yeah of course!" said Crosby as he moved aside to let her in, "Come on in! Make yourself at home."

Kristine sank into a massive couch that could easily be a bed and sighed with relief. Sidney smiled in amusement as he crawled in next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Okay…what's on your mind?"

Kristine instantly felt the tension take over her body again. She swallowed nervously and adjusted her position so that Sidney could only keep one arm around her. He frowned at that, suddenly scared that this had to do with him.

"Well," began Kristine, her mouth going dry with anxiety, "I had a conversation with a guy on my team…and it was about you."

Crosby tensed up instantly as he assumed the worst. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm and to not overreact.

"Who?" he asked quietly, but Kristine noted the apprehension in his brown eyes.

"It doesn't matter…just someone who was around last season when everything…went down allegedly."

Crosby swallowed nervously, "Oh…they told you about that then, huh?"

"So it's true?" asked Kristine, her eyes wide and questioning, "Did…did you really try to destroy the Capitals? And…manipulate Nicklas?"

Crosby looked away, too ashamed to meet her accusing and horrified stare, "Yeah…I did…and I'm not proud of it either. I'm sorry you had to hear it from someone else."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Kristine, her voice rising, "Why didn't you tell me you did all of that?"

"Well it's not exactly a shining moment in my life, hun," said Crosby nervously, "It's not something I brag about."

"Yeah but I'm on their team! I have to play with the same guys you hurt last season! How in the world did you think I wouldn't find out?" blurted Kristine, beginning to panic as she realized that Mike really was right…Crosby was a backstabbing, manipulative traitor.

"I…I was waiting for the right time to tell you," said Crosby, his eyes glittering with worry, "I was scared if I told you too soon you'd run away from me. You're a loyal person, Kristine. You wouldn't have given me a chance in hell if you'd found this out any earlier than you did."

Kristine opened her mouth to retort but hesitated. Was he right? Would she really have backed out of this relationship if he had told her on day one? In that moment she knew Crosby was right…they wouldn't be here right now talking about this if he had told her the truth earlier.

"Yeah…I guess you're right," muttered Kristine, "Are you…I mean have you changed since then? I didn't know you then so I don't have much to base it on, but you don't seem like that man anymore."

"I'm not," said Crosby as he stared deeply into Kristine's eyes, "I swear to you I'm not that man anymore…I won't ever be that man again either. I regret what I did deeply and it still bothers me. I'm sorry, Kristine. I'm guessing this is what's causing some of the issues over on your team?"

Kristine looked away, "Yeah…something like that."

Crosby frowned, "I'm sorry, Kristine. I really am…I hope you'll be able to forgive me. I know some of the guys on your team aren't too fond of me and I don't really blame them, but I desperately want you to forgive me…I'll prove to you that I'm not that guy anymore, I swear."

Kristine sighed as she stared at Sidney. His eyes were glassy with emotion as he begged for her forgiveness. He had been honest with her…he confirmed the story Green had told her and said he was a changed man. He sure wasn't acting like the guy the Capitals knew last season.

"Yeah…yeah I forgive you," breathed Kristine, "Thank you for being honest with me…I appreciate that."

Crosby smiled, "Always…I'll always be honest with you. The last thing in the world I'd want to do is hurt you."

Kristine smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. The innocent kiss turned hot and heavy fast and before she knew it she was naked on Crosby's couch, all tension forgotten and any lingering doubts dissolved into thin air…

…

At practice the next morning, Kristine walked in to see that she was one of the first ones to arrive. She saw Mike Green's gear bag on a bench, still packed, and his skates underneath the bench.

Just then, Mike walked through the door behind her, "Hey…"

"Hi," said Kristine, her eyes wide with surprise as Mike addressed her. She watched as he opened up his large duffel bag and began to put on his equipment, "So…how are you feeling? I know the trainers said you were back to your old self after that nasty hit in Tampa…"

"Yeah, I'm doing a lot better," said Green as he laced up his skates, "Thanks. How 'bout you? You talked to Crosby yet?"

Kristine swallowed nervously. She had to tread lightly on the subject of Sidney Crosby with Mike Green. This was the first time Mike had spoken to her since that night in the hotel and she didn't want to ruin it and force him back into silent mode again. The rest of the team sure as hell wouldn't appreciate that either.

"Yeah I went to his place yesterday," she said carefully as she began to put on her skates, "I asked him about it. I didn't mention your name so no worries…he verified that your story is correct and that he did do all that stuff, but that he deeply regretted it and he wished he could go back and change the way things turned out. He said he's not like that anymore...and I believe him."

Kristine saw Mike visibly stiffen at that. She braced herself for a sharp reply or an angry outburst and was surprised when Mike sighed heavily and the sad gleam reentered his tired eyes.

"Oh…that's good I guess," he muttered.

"Yeah…yeah it is," replied Kristine as she gave Mike a questioning look.

Mike glanced away and picked up his hockey stick, "I'm gonna go warm up a bit…I'll see you on the ice?"

"Um yeah…yeah I'll be out there in a few."

Mike nodded as he left the locker room and headed out to the rink. Kristine watched him leave with a look of bewilderment on her face. Mike was a complete enigma to her. He confused her beyond any explanation. First the man hated her because she was a girl and could ruin the Capitals image with the fans, then he resented her because she was talking to Crosby, then he kissed her and stopped talking to her, now he was acting like things were at least somewhat okay between them.

Kristine just shook her head and sighed. She grabbed her stick and went out to join him on the rink and wait for the others to arrive. Whatever was going on in Mike's head was something he was going to have to deal with. She couldn't base her actions and her words around assumptions as to what Mike was thinking…she would only operate on facts and so far the facts said that Crosby wasn't the terrible person the majority of the team still thought he was and that Mike was a riddle that couldn't be solved. Other than that…Kristine knew nothing. And that was how things were going to have to be for the time being…until something came up and changed it then she would go on living her life the same way she had for the past few weeks…

**Please Review!**

**Get ready for a huge plot twist in the next chapter! : )**


	13. Cold as You

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I'm glad you guys like this one! : )**

**Just a side note: I'm going to jump ahead a few weeks in this chapter to get the ball rolling a bit more. Nothing has changed during the weeks that I "skipped over." But I think it'll make more sense once you read this chapter…enjoy! : )**

**Also: Title of this chapter and the lyrics at the end are from a song called "Cold as You" by Taylor Swift.**

_Three Weeks Later…_

As the weeks moved along things stayed mostly the same. The Capitals had only faced the Penguins once in those three weeks and lost in a shootout, but other than that game the Capitals found themselves back on track and in a winning streak. Things were looking up for the young team as arrived back in Washington, D.C. for a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After winning twelve games in a row, the Capitals had high hopes for defeating their rivals who had beaten them in a shootout not so long ago.

Things between Mike Green and Kristine Alvarez were easing up a little, although that might have had to do with the fact that they rarely spoke to one another. Mike tried to keep his distance in order to prevent himself from getting hurt and to avoid confusing Kristine again. She had fallen in love with the Penguin's captain and it was a fact that he had to learn to accept. This was how life was going to be and as far as Mike Green could tell, it wasn't going to change anytime soon…

…

It was a beautiful, clear Friday evening when Kristine hopped into her new, red Lamborghini and drove over to the hotel where Sidney Crosby was staying for the weekend. The Capitals were playing their rivals Saturday night and the Penguins had arrived in town just a few hours ago. Kristine hadn't been able to greet her boyfriend at the airport or see him any earlier than now because Coach Boudreau had ordered an extra practice that afternoon to get the Capitals in shape for the big game.

Kristine pulled her car into the hotel garage and quickly went to the elevators. She glanced down at her phone to double-check the text Sidney Crosby had sent her earlier that day. He was staying on the top floor in room seven-hundred eighty-one. She smiled as she waited impatiently for the elevator to climb to the top floor. It had been several days since she and Sidney had been able to get away and be together. Although their teams hadn't played one another in over three weeks, they still managed to meet up as they crossed paths in their travels. Now they had an entire weekend to themselves and Kristine couldn't wait to start it.

She practically skipped down the hallway as soon as the elevator doors opened and stopped in front of Sidney's door. She noticed it was cracked open just a little and could hear the muted sound of voices inside the room. She opened the door hesitantly, not wanting to disturb him if he was talking with one of his players, and slipped inside. But what greeted Kristine as she turned the corner was a sight she had never expected to see.

"Shit!" shouted Crosby as he quickly climbed off of a leggy blonde woman.

The woman looked incredibly annoyed and glared at Kristine. Kristine meanwhile looked like someone had just punched her in the stomach. She felt faint and leaned on the wall behind her for support.

"Honey…I'm sorry, look it's just…it's nothing serious okay?" stammered out Crosby as he pleaded for her forgiveness, "It gets lonely on the road sometimes and you meet people and…"

"And you sleep with them?" said Kristine in a low, disbelieving voice, "You're in DC, Sidney…my town…and you knew I was here. My God if you do this shit with other girls in DC what the hell do you do when I'm _not _around?"

"Kristine, please," begged Crosby as he reached out for her hands.

Kristine recoiled like a snake and slapped Sidney as hard as she could. Crosby gasped in surprise at the strength behind her blow and held the side of his face, gaping in shock as he stared at Kristine.

"You asshole," snarled Kristine, well beyond furious by now, "You liar! You said you had changed! You said you weren't that man anymore!"

"I'm not!" argued Crosby, "I always play fair now! I don't cheat!"

"Not in hockey maybe! But with me…you're a man-whore!" screamed Kristine, her voice rising to a shrill, high-pitched tone, "Well I hope your sluts keep you warm at night!" she shouted as she whirled around and made a bee-line for the door.

Kristine felt the world around her begin to spin and she forced herself to take it slow down the hallway so she wouldn't pass out. The last thing she needed right now was to lose consciousness in this hotel with Sidney Crosby. She pushed the elevator button and waited impatiently for it to open.

"Kristine!" called Crosby as he followed her down the hall, "Please! Oh come on I don't love her! I love you! You're the only woman I've ever truly fallen in love with!"

"Give me one damn good reason why I should believe anything you say," snarled Kristine.

"I swear to you! I love you! I don't give a damn what happens to her when she leaves my hotel but I sure as hell care about you!" shouted Crosby, his eyes desperate and pleading, "You mean so much to me…please don't do this to me!"

"Don't do this to you?" roared Kristine, "Ha! This is the very least that you deserve…goodbye Sidney."

Kristine stepped into the elevator and waited as the doors closed before she had an emotional breakdown. The tears poured down her face as she tried to hold back the sobs until she was out of the hotel lobby. She ran to her car and slid inside, closing and locking the door behind her. She leaned on the steering wheel and unleashed the sobs that were welling up inside of her.

She was in absolute shock. How could he have done this to her? After all they had been through? After all that _she_ had been through trying to convince her team that he was a changed man? How could she have been so stupid to believe that someone who was capable of that kind of manipulative, backstabbing treachery would ever be loyal to her?

After a few minutes, Kristine forced herself to calm down. She needed to go back to her apartment and be alone for awhile to deal with this. Tomorrow there was an early morning practice and then she would have to come face to face with Sidney all over again at the game tomorrow night. She choked back a sob and turned the ignition. After taking a couple more shaky breaths she pulled out of the parking garage and into the cold night air and drove away from the hotel, never looking back…

…

_You have a way of coming easily to me__  
__And when you take, you take the very best of me__  
__So I start a fight cause I need to feel something__  
__And you do what you want cause I'm not what you wanted__  
__Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day__  
__Just walk away, no use defending words that you will never say__  
__And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through__  
__I've never been anywhere cold as you_

...

**Eesh that was hard to write! : ( **

**Please review!**


	14. Telling the Team

**Well that last chapter was really hard to write but this one came out a little bit easier : )**

**Enjoy!**

Early the next morning Kristine walked into the locker room of the Washington Capitals Kettler Iceplex. Her eyes were blood-shot and slightly puffy from crying most of the night last night and she hadn't even bothered with any makeup that morning. She didn't make eye-contact with any one as she slid over to her area of the locker room.

Nicklas Backstrom glanced up when he saw Kristine come in and did a double take. He had expected her to walk in beaming with happiness after spending another night with her boyfriend. Despite his still-standing opinion about the Penguin's captain he couldn't deny the fact that Crosby never failed to make Kristine happy. This morning however, Backstrom knew something must have gone terribly wrong. He watched as Kristine took her place next to him in the locker room and began to put on her gear for practice.

"You okay?" murmured Backstrom after a moment.

"I don't want to talk about it," muttered Kristine wretchedly as she put on her pads.

Backstrom frowned at that and glanced over his shoulder at Mike Green. Mike was watching Kristine with interest from the moment she had walked into the room. He too had noted her sleep-deprived and blood-shot eyes and was beginning to seriously worry about her. He made eye-contact with Nicklas who was giving him an accusing glare. Mike put his hands up in mock surrender, silently telling Backstrom that it wasn't him this time. In fact he had backed off considerably in the past few weeks as he began to realize that Crosby and Kristine were an item and that she had no intentions of changing that. Despite the fact that it still hurt to see her happy with some other guy, Green wanted nothing more than for her to be just that: happy.

The team grew quiet as they watched Kristine silently lace up her skates and leave the locker room. She didn't say a word to anyone as she moved through the throng of players and hit the ice.

"What the hell did you do now?" asked Andrew Gordon as he shot an annoyed glare in Mike Green's direction.

"Go screw yourself, Gordon," snarled Mike, "And for your information I didn't do a damn thing!"

"Knock it off you two," said Alex Semin as he gave them both hard glares, "Let's not start this shit again okay? Alvarez is having a rough morning, so what? We all have those now and then…just drop it and get to practice."

Mike Knuble nodded graciously to Alex Semin, "I agree…everyone just cool it. We have a big game tonight and the last thing we need is some kind of blow up right before it."

"Everyone hit the ice the second you're geared up," ordered Ovechkin as he scanned the players, making sure no one was still overly agitated.

Alex paused as he glanced over at Mike Green. He still looked ruffled by Andrew Gordon's careless question. He frowned as he walked over to his friend and patted him on the back.

"Hey, let it go Greenie…Gordon's just trying to get under your skin, don't let him."

Mike nodded as he sighed and gave Ovechkin a confused look, "Do you know what's wrong with Kristine? She looks miserable."

Alex sighed as he noted the sad, longing look in Mike's eyes. His friend still cared deeply for Kristine and he looked distraught at having seen her look so upset.

"I have no clue," muttered Ovechkin as he glanced away, "I know she was going to see Crosby yesterday…maybe something happened?"

Mike frowned, "Yeah…maybe."

The two friends followed the rest of the team onto the ice and began to break up into groups to work on various practice drills. Mike Green, Kristine Alvarez, Nicklas Backstrom and Andrew Gordon formed a group to work on puck handling skills. Mike and Andrew exchanged ugly glares as Nicklas took charge of the drill.

"Okay, let's do this without any fighting alright? Let's work on passing to begin with," he said as he snatched up a puck with his stick and sent it across to Mike.

Mike picked up the quick wrister with his stick and sent a high shot right past Andrew Gordon's head. The young forward ducked out of the way, cursing as the puck sailed past him.

"What the hell?" he shouted angrily as he turned to go after Mike.

"Alright, alright!" shouted Backstrom, "Knock it off you two! Mike, no more of that…come on guys we gotta big game tonight! Get your heads in it already!"

Mike gave Andrew Gordon a satisfied smirk as the young forward picked up the puck with his stick and sent a wrister over to Kristine. She was only half paying attention to what was going on. She was still thinking about what had happened the night before and was struggling to keep her mind here on the practice rink. The puck sailed just out of reach of her stick and she cursed herself as she moved quickly to recover it.

Nicklas and Mike exchanged worried and knowing looks as they watched Kristine try to regain her composure. Andrew Gordon rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation and gave Mike and Nicklas an "I told you so" look. Green sneered at him and gave him a threatening glare as he accepted the pass that Kristine sent his way. After several more sessions of passing, and a few more missed pucks by Kristine, Andrew Gordon began to lose patience for the young forward.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," he hissed after she missed a rather easy pass, "Get your head in the game Alvarez! Stop thinking about your stupid boyfriend and pay attention to what's going on here!"

Green opened his mouth to send a sharp reply in defense of Kristine but she beat him to it. Whatever had been upsetting her was about to be unleashed. Mike swallowed nervously when he saw her turn around to face Gordon, her eyes flashing with anger as she replied.

"You want to know what's on my mind, Andrew? You want to know why I can't 'get my head in the game?' Well I'll tell you why! I walked in on my boyfriend last night having sex with some whore! That's why I'm not all here right now!"

Kristine felt the all-too-familiar moisture in her eyes and wiped away the tears quickly. She didn't want to have an emotional breakdown in front of the entire team…but it was too late for that. She didn't realize how loud she had been yelling. The rest of the team on the other end of the rink turned to look at her with shocked and horrified looks on their faces. A couple of them began to curse Crosby and the Penguins under their breath as they absorbed what Kristine had just said.

Andrew Gordon had paled a little and looked away shamefully. He felt a flush of embarrassment sweep over him as he glanced back up at Kristine.

"I…I'm sorry…I didn't know," he stammered out as he shifted uneasily on his skates.

Kristine cursed under her breath as she looked around and saw everyone looking at her in disbelief. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Andrew Gordon.

"Um…yeah…no, you didn't…its fine, let's just…get back to practice okay?"

Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green looked like they were about to go kill someone. They exchanged infuriated looks right before Green whirled around and raised his stick up in the air, smashing it on the boards. It snapped and the pieces clattered to the ice. Kristine jumped a little, surprised by Mike's sudden angry outburst. He turned around and looked at her, his eyes brimming with sympathy and fury on her behalf.

Kristine smiled sadly, "It's okay, Mike…I'll be okay. Let's just work on our drills for the game tonight. I have a sudden motivation to beat the shit out of Pittsburgh."

Andrew Gordon smirked a little at that, "Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!"

Kristine forced a smile as she sent the puck his way. Mike watched her with growing concern. Although she had been able to gather up her emotions he knew that deep down she was suffering tremendously. His jaw clenched in anger as he thought about what Crosby had done to her. Just when he thought the asshole couldn't get any worse, there he was, destroying yet another wonderful person.

"Mike, you gonna stand there all morning or grab another stick?" asked Kristine as she gave him a questioning look.

Mike shook his head to clear his thoughts and forced a smile, "Uh, yeah…sorry, I'll be right back," he said as he skated back over toward the locker room and picked up another stick.

As he took to the ice he made eye-contact with Alex Semin. Semin and Perreault were working on drills together and had paused to discuss what had just happened. The two players gave Mike a sad smile as he skated over to them.

"Dude…we were wrong," muttered Mathieu, "I thought maybe the guy really had changed…I mean he was always so good to Kristine…he made her happy at least."

"I can't believe he would stoop that low," said Semin, shaking his head in disbelief, "I mean…that was low, even for him."

Mike nodded in agreement, "Yeah it was, but we're going to make him pay tonight. I promise you I'm going to make that worthless piece of shit wish he was never born."

Perreault smiled, "Just make sure it's worth the penalty."

Mike smiled sadistically, "Oh trust me…it'll be worth every minute."

…

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	15. You Know What They Say About Revenge

**This by far was probably my most favorite chapter to write : ) I think you all will like this one! Enjoy!**

The Capitals lined up at the door that led from the locker room out onto the ice rink and shuffled anxiously as they waited for their cue. Mike had taken up position right behind Kristine, making sure to keep an eye on the shaken young forward since practice that morning. He tapped her on the shoulder and Kristine turned to face him.

"I, um…I want you to know I have your back out there," he murmured quietly, "I'm sorry about what happened to you. Just know that you have a whole team of guys here that are willing to go to bat for you tonight…and that I'm always gonna be here if you need anything."

Kristine smiled as she turned and gave Mike a hug. Instantly Mike felt the months of tension and anxiety evaporate in that moment. This was the first time he was able to speak to Kristine without the underlying issue of Sidney Crosby or the lingering questions of what happened that fateful night in the hotel….and it felt really, really good.

"Thanks, Mike," said Kristine, her eyes a little moist, "I appreciate that…a lot."

Mike smiled, "Anytime, Kristine."

"Let's go!" roared Ovechkin as he led the charge out onto the ice.

The Capitals poured out of the tunnel and spilled out onto the ice under the roar of a sea of red in the stands. They felt invigorated by the loud cheering and red lights that splayed out on the ice. This was their hometown, this was their rink, and this was their night.

"Who wants to go after Crosby first?" asked Andrew Gordon as he winked over at Kristine. She smirked in amusement at him as he and some of the other forwards discussed the issue. Since she had told them at practice that morning what had happened between her and Crosby, Andrew Gordon had altered the way he treated her and instead seemed to be completely on her side. Kristine shook her head and laughed as she realized that that was just because he now had her full permission to hit Crosby as hard as he possibly could.

"I'll take care of it," muttered Green as he skated over to Andrew Gordon, "Let me handle it…we won't get more than five seconds into the game before I make the first move."

Andrew Gordon was taken aback by the dangerous light that flickered in Green's eyes. He knew that Mike meant business. This was personal for him and he would be the best guy to take the punk out of the game.

"Alright then…I think we're ready to play!"

…

The referee blew the whistle and called the players to order for the first faceoff. Coach Boudreau ordered Ovechkin's line to take to the ice for the first shift of the night, much to Mike Green's excitement.

Backstrom took his position at center ice for the puck drop and waited for his teammates to join him. Kristine took her place a few feet away from Backstrom right next to Evengi Malkin of the Penguins while Perreault and Ovechkin took up positions a little bit deeper into their side of the rink to catch the puck if it dribbled their way. Mike Green opted for the spot on the other side of Backstrom where he came face to face with Sidney Crosby. He smiled at his good fortune and slid into position.

Kristine took a deep breath as she slid into position next to Malkin and waited for the puck to drop. Malkin glanced over at her and gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry," whispered Malkin to Kristine, "I didn't know…if I knew what he had been doing I would have told you, I promise."

Kristine smiled sadly, "It's not your fault Evengi…don't worry about it."

Meanwhile on the other side of Backstrom, Mike Green was informing Sidney Crosby about exactly how the beginning of the game would go.

"You're mine, Sidney," snarled Mike as he glared at the Penguin's captain, "The second that puck hits the ice my gloves are coming off and it's game on."

"Oh come on!" hissed Crosby, "Really? Because of what happened between me and Kristine?"

"Yeah that's exactly why," sneered Green, "And for all the other people you've screwed over you asshole. This has been a long time in coming, douche-bag. Hope you're ready for it!"

The second the puck drop, Backstrom slid it over to Kristine who snatched it up easily with her stick. But just as she was about to take it down the ice, the referees blew their whistles. She turned around in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened to stop the play and froze in shock. Mike Green had thrown his gloves and his helmet to the ice and was dancing around Sidney Crosby, his face a mask of fury as he prepared to strike.

Crosby fumbled at the strap on his helmet and finally yanked it loose. He through his gear onto the ice too and began to circle around with Mike Green. The rest of the players slid out of their way as they watched in fascination for the fight to erupt.

"This is ridiculous!" shouted Crosby, "What the hell is your problem?"

"_My _problem Sidney? My problem is you!" roared Green as he lunged forward and threw a punch right in Crosby's face.

Sidney Crosby let out a cry of surprise and pain as his head whipped back at the sudden and unexpected impact. He quickly recovered and put his hands up to defend himself against Green's onslaught of punches. Mike latched onto the front of Crosby's jersey and began to pummel him with punch after punch, moving too quickly for Sidney to adjust and throw a punch of his own. After several punches, Mike grabbed Sidney's jersey with both hands and threw him down onto the ice. Crosby was already bleeding heavily from a cut above his eye and a bloody nose, but Green wasn't finished with him yet. He sucker punched Crosby under the jaw and the Penguin's captain gave a cry of sheer terror and pain as Green continued to dole out blow after damaging blow.

Finally the referees were able to pry the two players off of one another. It took two referees to hold Mike Green back as they pulled him away from Sidney Crosby. Crosby struggled to get back onto his feet. He shook his head and blood drops scattered across the ice. The referees helped him get back to the bench for the Penguins' medical staff to see to his wounds. Meanwhile the other referee skated to the center of the ice to announce Mike Green's punishment.

"Capitals number fifty-two, five minutes for fighting and two for un-sportsman-like conduct," announced the ref.

Mike's hands were covered in Crosby's blood as he picked up his gloves and began to make his way to the penalty box. The Capitals that were sitting on the bench all slapped their sticks on the boards to applaud their defenseman's brutal attack. The rest of the team that was on the ice slapped their sticks on the ice in support. Even the Capitals goalie, Varlamov, was joining in the applause.

Kristine skated over to where Mike's helmet had clattered to the ice and picked it up. She skated over to the penalty box and Mike opened the door for her.

"I think you left this," she said, unable to hide the smile on her face.

"Oh, thank you," said Green with a smirk.

"No…thank _you_," said Kristine as she closed the door and went back out onto the ice.

Mike smiled broadly from his seat in the penalty box. Sure he'd be in here for seven minutes but hey, it was well worth it and he would gladly do it again if need be…especially if it meant earning another dazzling smile from Kristine Alvarez…

…

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	16. Sweet Justice

**Thank you for the awesome reviews! I think you guys will like this chapter! : ) enjoy!**

The Capitals played the best game of their lives that night. Full of hard-hits, crushing blows and intense fights, the two battered teams fought to the bitter end. As the third period rolled around the teams resembled cage fighters more than they did NHL players.

"Damn, Steckel!" said Eric Fehr as he gazed wide-eyed at his friend as he skated back toward the bench, "Your eye's swollen shut!"

"Gee, thanks Captain Obvious, tell me something I _don't_ know," smirked Steckel as he gave Fehr a playful punch to the shoulder, "It's all right, you shoulda seen the other guy!"

Kristine winced as she felt a powerful shove slam her into the boards on the Penguin's side of the rink. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Matt Cooke, the Penguins player most known for his loud mouth and wide variety of complaints. She fought hard against the boards for possession of the puck and breathed a sigh of relief when Nicklas Backstrom came to her aide. He knocked the puck loose and passed it back to a waiting Alexander Ovechkin.

Cooke cursed and gave Kristine an extra shove into the boards. Kristine cried out in anger as she whirled on the arrogant Penguin's forward. She raised her stick and brought it down across his, snapping Cooke's stick in half. Instantly the ref blew the whistle to make the slashing call, but Cooke was already reacting to Kristine's attack. He threw the broken stick down on the ice and turned to face her, his hands up, ready for a fight.

"Oh that's real manly of you, Cooke," sneered Kristine as they circled one another, "Fighting a girl? Really?"

Cooke lunged forward and Kristine moved deftly to the side, clipping him in the jaw as he nearly fell on top of her. The Penguins' forward let out a roar of frustration as he hit the ice. He rolled over and saw part of his broken stick. He grabbed it and leapt up, whirling around and raising it above his head. Kristine's eyes grew round with fear as she tried to duck out of the way. She made a quick dive and hit the ice then glanced back to see what Cooke would do next. She smiled when she saw that Mike Green had already rushed the cocky forward and had slammed him into the boards. Backstrom, Ovechkin and Perreault quickly joined the assault and soon the whole ice was a frenzy of battling Capitals and Penguin's players.

Eventually the refs were able to pull the players apart. Once things settled down, Kristine noticed more flecks of blood on the ice. She saw that Cooke was bleeding from the nose and that Mike had a small slash on his cheek bone. She skated quickly over to him and the two players glanced at each other from head to toe, trying to assess whatever damage had been done.

"You okay?" they asked in unison.

Kristine laughed a little, "Yeah I'm fine…thanks to you…again."

Mike shrugged, "Don't worry about it. I told you I had your back and I meant it."

Kristine smiled as she rubbed a smug of blood off of Mike's cheek, "Might wanna get a butterfly band aid on that one…it's a bleeder."

Mike nodded as he skated off to the bench for treatment. There were only three minutes left on the clock and the Capitals were winning four to one against the Penguins. It had been a long, hard, brutal game but it was one of the most intense and exciting games they had ever played. Not a single player on the Capitals bench was frowning…everyone looked ecstatic and upbeat as they entered the last couple minutes of the game.

Ovechkin's line was ordered to take the final shift. They had played most of the game and were the most battered of all the players. One of Ovechkin's eyes was black and blue and beginning to swell. He had been complaining about some bruised ribs and a sore ankle, but was no worse for the wear. Perreault's lip had split open and he had a small cut under one eye. He too was sore and having a hard time skating as fast as he usually did. Backstrom had a bruise on one cheek and one near his eyebrow as well as a small leg injury. Kristine felt as if her entire body were one giant bruise. Each and every movement was painful but also exhilarating. She knew that despite their injuries, the Penguins were the worse off than they were. Many of them had opted to sit out most of the game, forcing their lines to run longer and harder than usual before changing out.

"Let's finish this one out without any more fights if we can avoid it," said Ovechkin as he lead his team to the center of the rink, "We're almost done!"

Kristine let out a fierce, cat-like battle cry as she lined up for the faceoff. She glanced over and saw that Sidney Crosby was hobbling over to her to take his position next to her for the faceoff. She snarled quietly to herself but refused to let him bother her…not now…she would deal with her emotions regarding Crosby when this game was over. Until then she had to keep her head in the game and seal the deal for her teammates. In the meantime she allowed Sidney's current physical state to amuse her. His face was puffy and bruised and he had dried trails of blood coming from his nose and lip. Mike Green and the other Capitals players had seen to it that they rammed, hit, smashed and punched Crosby every single chance they got and it showed. Kristine couldn't help but laugh a little in amusement. Karma could be a beautiful thing sometimes.

Backstrom lost the faceoff but quickly recovered the puck, sending it over to a waiting Mathieu Perreault. Perreault let out an excited cry as he grabbed the puck and moved deftly around the slow, pained Penguin's defensemen. It was obvious that the Penguins had basically stopped playing and were merely skating around, waiting for the ending buzzer to sound.

Perreault sent the puck Kristine's way and she moved quickly up the ice. She flinched when Crosby suddenly appeared in front of her. His eyes were gleaming with anger and determination as he skated backwards in front of her, intent on ruining her chances of a goal. It was obvious that Sidney was holding Kristine responsible for his injuries and the way the game had turned out. It was just like him to blame the victim rather than himself for his issues.

Kristine sneered openly in Crosby's face as she moved the puck just out of reach of his stick, just as she had done in her first practice with the Capitals, and slid easily around him. She sent a quick wrister to the top shelf and jumped up into the boards as it sailed in.

Ovechkin practically tackled her as he congratulated her on an amazing goal. Mike Green, Mathieu Perreault and Nicklas Backstrom joined them, screaming and cheering loudly.

"You just _owned_ Crosby!" said Perreault, with a wide excited smile, "That was a beast move!"

Kristine laughed as they made their way back to center ice for the final puck drop. Less than a minute remained on the clock. This game was in the books. Not only had the Capitals destroyed the Penguins five to one, they had also dealt swift, painful justice for all the wrongs that Crosby and his team had done to them. For Kristine, it was the perfect way to begin to heal from the pain that Sidney Crosby had caused…

…

**Please Review! **


	17. Making Progress

**Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews! You guys are awesome!**

**Well I got depressed watching the game tonight so, for the first time in a long time, I stopped watching half way through the 3****rd**** and decided to write the next chapter instead. I figured it'd be more uplifting then that slaughter of a game I just saw….meh….anyways, I just ordered a Nicklas Backstrom Winter Classic jersey! I'm so excited! I can't wait for it to come in! : ) Sorry, just had to share…it's the only good news I got tonight after that game…oy…oh well, enjoy this chapter! : )**

_Three Weeks Later…_

"Oh come on, Greenie!"

"I said no!"

"Why not?"

"Because I said so," replied a very annoyed Mike Green as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"But we've got a free night tonight!" pressed Perreault, "It's the perfect time! Come on, man! If you want something you gotta go get it, not sit around here waiting for it to fall into your arms!"

"I'm assuming the 'it' is Alvarez?" asked an amused-looking Nicklas Backstrom as he entered the locker room.

Mike Green gave him an exasperated look, "You wouldn't believe how much this kid has been riding me! I freaking came here early to have some time alone and he was waiting in the locker room just to hassle me!"

Nicklas tried to hide his smirk as he watched Perreault badger Mike some more.

"Dude it's been three weeks since it all went down…now is the perfect time to strike! She'll have been through the hardest part of the mourning period and now she'll be looking to move on. And who do we want her to move on to?"

"Mathieu go skate some laps or something…work off all this excess, annoying energy, would you?" sighed Mike as he sat down on a nearby bench.

Perreault gave Backstrom a pleading look. Nicklas just laughed, "Come on, Mike…you gotta admit, the kid has a point."

"_Thank you_," breathed Perreault with gratitude, "See? I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea!"

"Well what the hell do you want me to do?" snapped Green, "Just walk up to her and go, 'oh, hey Kristine! So I know Crosby shattered your heart but hey, it's been three weeks and you need to move on. Wanna hang out tonight?' Yeah that'd go over real well, Mathieu."

"Well I wouldn't exactly go with _those_ choice words," muttered Perreault in annoyance.

"Come on, Mike," said Alexander Semin as he walked into the locker room, "What's holding you back? You've been waiting for a moment like this forever now. Why aren't you jumping on it?"

Mike shot his friend an accusing glare. Was no one on his side? He sighed before he answered.

"Because…because I'm scared as hell okay?" he snapped, "It scares the hell out of me just thinking about asking her."

"Why?" exclaimed Perreault, "Come on! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh gee, I have no clue…um, maybe she'll say no and then never talk to me again?" snapped Green.

"Oh please, she's not that shallow or immature," argued Semin, "You're just making excuses."

"Suck it up, buttercup," laughed Backstrom, "Just ask the girl to hang out with you after practice this morning. Don't even mention the word 'date.' Just ask her to chill…go to lunch or something."

Mike took a deep breath as he contemplated what his friends were telling him. It scared him to death to even seriously consider asking Kristine to hang out with him alone. They had never been alone aside from once in awhile in the locker room or in the morning when they had both arrived early for practice. She wasn't stupid either…she would be able to read right through him. It would be so obvious…and what if she said no? What would he do then?

Just then, Kristine walked into the locker room. She glanced around at her fellow teammates and raised an eyebrow in suspicion as she noticed that they all grew very quiet the moment she walked in.

"Everyone okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Perreault sighed in defeat, "I guess…some people are just being ridiculous."

Mike shot Mathieu a warning glare and Perreault replied by sticking out his tongue.

"Oh, very mature," smirked Green.

"This coming from you," retorted Perreault as he knocked Mike lightly on the head with his stick.

Kristine rolled her eyes, "You guys will never grow up will you?"

"Hell no! Who wants to grow up?" asked Ovechkin as he walked into the locker room, "Forget that! Come on guys lets suite up and hit the ice. The rest of the team should be here soon."

"It's now or never, Greenie," murmured Semin into Mike Green's ear as they hit the ice, "It's up to you…but would you rather go the rest of your life wondering 'if' or would you rather at least have closure?"

Mike frowned as he contemplated that as he skated around, shooting pucks at the net. He looked up when he saw Kristine hit the ice and swallowed nervously. How in the world was he going to ask her out?

…

"Good practice guys," said Ovechkin as the team filed back in, "Now we can all chill for the rest of the day and night."

"Thank God," muttered a very tired-looking Jay Beagle, "We played two games in a row…I think we could all use a night off."

The team murmured their agreement as they took off their pads and began to slowly trickle out of the locker room. Backstrom, Ovechkin, Semin and Perreault hung back, waiting to see if Green would ask Kristine. Nicklas gave Mike an urgent glare when he noticed that Kristine was almost done packing away her gear. Mike nodded curtly and swallowed. His mouth had gone dry and he was convinced if he stood up too fast from the bench he would pass out. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kristine pulling her hair back into a ponytail and getting ready to leave. This was it…now or never.

Mike cleared his throat as he turned around on the bench to face Kristine, "So, uh…what are you doing the rest of the day?"

Perreault whirled around and exchanged excited glances with Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin. The four players tried to act nonchalant as they pretended to fuss over their gear, stalling for time as they waited to see what would happen.

Kristine looked rather taken aback by Mike's question. They had managed to finally put the awkwardness behind them and were communicating a lot more on the ice. Their line was back to scoring high amounts of goals and being the most effective line on the team now that the channels of communication were open once again, but they did not ever hang out outside of the rink. She blinked in surprise as she fumbled for an answer.

"Um…nothing really. Why?"

Green tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice as he replied, "Oh, well if you aren't busy I was wondering if I could take you to lunch…maybe hang out for awhile or something? Only if you want to though, if not it's okay, I mean I…"

Kristine smirked at the nervousness in Green's voice. She had to admit, he was cute when he was flustered.

"Sure, that sounds great," she said with a slight laugh of amusement.

Mike Green's eyes grew round with surprise as he processed her answer. He could hardly believe she had just said yes! Backstrom, Ovechkin, Semin and Perreault were trying hard to contain their excitement as they hid their smiling faces behind lockers and equipment.

"Oh, cool, um yeah I'm ready to go whenever you are," stammered out Green, still shocked by her positive reply.

"Yeah I'm ready," said Kristine with a smile, "Let's get outta here."

Mike couldn't hide the excited smile on his face as he led Kristine out of the locker room. He glanced over his shoulder at his friends and nearly burst out laughing when he saw them jumping up and down and giving each other high-fives and hushed congratulations. They all turned and gave him a thumbs up as he left the locker room.

"Dude…I can't believe he actually did it!" said Perreault once the two forwards had left.

"Man, this is awesome," said Ovechkin with a wide grin, "That man has been moping and pining after her for so long."

"It's about time those two spend some time alone together," agreed Backstrom, "I've got a good feeling about this."

"Same here," agreed Semin, "Mike is just the kind of guy Kristine should be dating…unlike her ex whose name shall go unmentioned."

They all agreed to that as they picked up their gear and headed out of the Kettler Iceplex, all of them silently praying and wishing their friend luck on his lunch date…

…

**Please Review!**

**Author's Note: Just to let you guys know I still have a lot of material to cover so it's not ending anytime soon (I don't plan for it to anyway). We still have the playoffs to get through! Also I had a little bit of inspiration for a third installment in this series : ) I won't be able to start on it before I head back to school but I'll keep formulating the plot line so the next break I have from school or if I get any free time while I'm out I can write it and update once in awhile. **


	18. For the First Time

**Well after the past several intense chapters this one is more of a feel-good, cute chapter : ) I think it'll be a nice break from all the intense fighting and high-levels of stress the other chapters tend to invoke lol : ) **

**Note: The title of this chapter and the lyrics at the end are from a song called "First Time" by Lifehouse.**

**Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!**

Kristine felt as if she had butterflies in her stomach as she climbed into the car with Mike Green. Ever since that day at the hotel they had kept up a certain wall between them. Everything they ever talked about was strictly professional and work-related. This was a completely different turn of events that Kristine had not anticipated. It made her nervous yet excited as well. For three weeks she had been sulking by herself in hotels or her apartment, depending on where the Capitals were at the time, and was beginning to annoy herself. She was sick of moping and crying over Sidney Crosby. All she wanted to do was live her life and have a good time.

"Thank you for this," she said as Mike started up his Lamborghini, "I needed to get out for once."

Mike gave her a concerned look, "Oh yeah? You haven't been out lately? I noticed that you haven't been coming to any of the after parties."

Kristine smiled sadly, "Yeah…I guess I just haven't been in a party-type mood lately."

"I'm sorry," said Mike quietly as they drove down the road.

"For what?" asked Kristine, raising an eyebrow, "For defending me and helping me out when I needed it? For dragging me out of the Kettler Iceplex to have a life?"

Mike laughed, "Well…I'm sorry for what that asshole did to you. But I'm glad to hear I've been of some help anyway."

Kristine smiled, "Trust me…you have."

Mike felt his heart skip a beat under her appraising gaze. He pulled over to the side of the road in front of a restaurant called, The Green Turtle.

Kristine laughed, "Mike, we're going into the restaurant next to our home ice rink? We're gonna get mobbed!"

Mike laughed as he put on a pair of sunglasses and reached behind him to grab a baseball hat. He handed it to Kristine and she gave him a confused look.

"We'll go incognito," he explained.

"Incognito?" asked Kristine, giving Mike a disbelieving look, "In a hat and sunglasses? Mike…our fans aren't stupid."

Mike just laughed, "Well most of them should still be at Kettler…we'll be fine. Come on, I wanna show you something."

Kristine still looked a little puzzled as Mike climbed out of the Lamborghini and walked around to her side to open the door for her.

"Just trust me," he said with a wink, "It'll be fun."

Kristine felt Mike's hand fall on the small of her back as he led her toward the front door. She was surprised when she realized that she not only didn't mind his touch…she _liked _it.

As they walked through the front door, Kristine sighed in relief. The place was practically empty. Maybe, just maybe they would make it through this meal without being mobbed by fans. Nearly every time any Capitals player went out to eat in DC they ran into a slew of fans. And here they were, eating in the restaurant right next door to their arena.

Mike whispered something to the waitress and the woman smiled as she nodded in agreement. Kristine gave Mike a curious look as the waitress led them to the back of the restaurant and seated them in a small, enclosed area of four tables.

Kristine's mouth fell open in surprise when she saw the portraits that surrounded the small enclosed corner.

"That's Olaf Kolzig!" she breathed as she gazed up at the large picture in awe. When she had first started watching Capitals hockey when she was a young girl, Olaf Kolzig was the Capitals goalie. He had been one of the best in the business and she greatly admired his skill and his easy-going nature. As Kristine glanced around she was surprised to see other prior Capitals stars: Peter Bondra and Adam Oates.

Mike hung back as he watched Kristine study the pictures intently. He smiled to himself, happy to see her face light up and excitement dance in her eyes for the first time in several weeks.

As Kristine turned to look at the pictures on the other wall, her eyes grew wide with surprise. There was a picture of Alex Ovechkin back before the Capitals had changed the design of their jerseys. Next to him was a picture of Mike and Nicklas working their way up the ice in a game against the Penguins. They were so young then that they looked like little boys.

"That was my rookie year," explained Mike as he walked up behind her, a wistful look on his face, "I just came up from the Hershey Bears…scared to death but I found my place on the team pretty quickly. Nicky and I became friends right off the bat then Semin came along then Ovechkin started hanging out with us…and the rest is history."

"This is amazing," breathed Kristine, "I didn't know this was even here!"

Mike smiled, "Yeah…it's a well-kept secret I guess."

Kristine turned so that she could look Mike in the eyes, "Thank you," she said with meaning.

Mike felt his heart skip a couple beats at the intensity in her eyes and the proximity of their bodies. He swallowed nervously, "You're welcome."

Kristine smiled as she moved to sit down at the table underneath the pictures of Mike, Alex and Nicklas. Mike smirked a little at her choice in seating and sat down across from her. They moved through lunch at a leisurely pace, talking about their favorite things, their teammates, the future of the Capitals, and shared funny stories. For the first time in a long time Kristine found herself laughing so hard that it hurt her sides...but this pain was a lot more bearable than the pain she had been dealing with the past few weeks. This pain she could get used to…

…

Mike opened up the door to his penthouse and led Kristine inside. He had been a nervous wreck asking her if she wanted to come back to his place after lunch to hang out. He remembered the sudden warmth that ran through his body as Kristine raised an eyebrow suggestively and asked if he was trying to seduce her. She had been joking of course, but that look…that look made him want to do just that.

"Wow," said Kristine as she glanced around the rather large penthouse, "This place is gorgeous!"

Mike smiled sheepishly, "Yeah the guys make fun of me cause I actually have taste when it comes to interior decorating. I like modern art a lot…I make my own sometimes."

Kristine turned around and gave Mike a surprised look, "No way! That's really cool…yeah I love it. It's roomy and very organized for a hockey player," she added with a wink.

Mike laughed, "You want something to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," replied Kristine as she sat down on a huge, fluffy couch in front of a massive plasma TV that was hanging on the wall.

Mike walked over to a huge shelf full of DVDs and began to glance through them, "Wanna watch something?"

"Sure," said Kristine as she stood to join him.

She glanced through the seemingly endless assortment of DVDs. She paused when she got to Fifty First Dates and gave Mike a questioning, teasing look.

"What?" asked Mike, feeling himself blush a little, "Everyone needs a good chick flick now and then!"

Kristine tried to hide her amusement but was failing miserably. Mike gave her an annoyed look and pretended to be offended.

"I'm sorry, Mike…it's just…you're so intense and manly and then, you like modern art and have some chick flicks on your DVD shelf. I actually kinda like that."

Mike felt himself flush a little, but this time for a different reason, "Yeah, yeah…I have a bleeding heart okay?"

Kristine smirked as she gave him a side-hug, "That's a good thing. Now, I vote for Fifty First Dates."

Mike smiled as he hugged her back, feeling his heartbeat quicken a little, "Alright, deal," he said as he moved to put the DVD in.

Kristine sank back down onto the large, fluffy couch and hugged one of the pillows to her chest. Mike pressed play and rejoined her on the couch. As the movie began to play, Kristine leaned over and rested her head on Mike's shoulder. Mike swallowed nervously as he carefully put his arm around her and watched as she adjusted her position so her head was leaning on his chest with her arms wrapped around one of the pillows. Mike smiled happily as he settled down into the couch. Now this was something he could get used to. He would give anything to have her in his arms every day…just like this…

…

_We're both looking for something__  
__We've been afraid to find__  
__It's easier to be broken__  
__It's easier to hide__  
__Looking at you, holding my breath,__  
__For once in my life, I'm scared to death,__  
__I'm taking a chance, letting you inside.__  
__Feeling alive all over again,__  
__As deep as the sky, under my skin__  
__Like being in love, she says__  
__For the first time__  
__Maybe I'm wrong,__  
__But I'm feeling right where I belong__  
__With you tonight__  
__Like being in love__  
__To feel for the first time__  
__The world that I see inside you__  
__Waiting to come to life__  
__Waking me up to dreaming__  
__Reality in your eyes__  
__We're crashing__  
__Into the unknown__  
__We're lost in this__  
__But it feels like home…__  
_

**Please Review!**


	19. Respect Goes a Long Way

**Another cute chapter : ) Don't worry…we'll get back to the intensity here soon…I'm gonna skip ahead a bit in the next chapter. We'll be heading into the playoffs here soon! Well…in my story at least lol Let's Go Caps! Enjoy! **

Kristine rolled over in a massive, unfamiliar bed early the next morning and hit the alarm clock sitting on a small table next to the bed. She blinked open her eyes and glanced around the room in confusion as she tried to figure out where she was. Just then there was a light knock on the door and Mike Green stuck his head inside the room.

"Morning sleepy head," he said with a smirk of amusement, "You fell asleep during the movie last night so I moved you in here."

Kristine nodded as she remembered what had happened, "Oh, Mike I'm so sorry!"

"No it's fine!" assured Mike as he slid into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, "You were exhausted…it's been a long few days with all those back to back games."

"Where…where did you sleep then if I was in here?" asked Kristine, concern on her face.

"Oh, just on the couch out there," said Mike, "We gotta go in thirty minutes…Boudreau wants us to have a morning skate before the game tonight against the Senators."

Kristine moaned in complaint, "Yay," she muttered unenthusiastically.

Mike laughed, "I'm gonna go get my stuff together…breakfast is ready and on the table if you're hungry," he called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Kristine raised an eyebrow in surprise as she watched Mike leave. Breakfast? He had made her breakfast? And more that that…he had carried her into his room last night, tucked her in and then slept on the _couch_? Kristine couldn't remember a time when she had ever been to a guy's place without the guy trying to get her in bed. She suddenly had a new-found respect for Mike Green in that moment. He respected her and cared enough about her to not take advantage of her…it was a new concept for Kristine.

She yawned and stretched as she climbed out of bed and wandered into the main room where the kitchen was. Her eyes opened wide in surprise when she saw eggs, bacon and pancakes all sitting out, waiting for her. He must have gotten up really early to do this for her. Kristine was touched as she sat down and began to eat. After a few minutes she heard the sound of the shower turning off. Mike walked out of the bathroom and into his room to change. Kristine glanced up and caught sight of him from the slightly open door. The only thing he was wearing was a towel tied around his waist. She caught herself staring at his muscular form and the tattoos that danced across his well-toned arms. She forced herself to look away in case he turned around and finished up her breakfast. Glancing at the clock, Kristine realized they only had about ten more minutes before they needed to leave.

"You almost ready?" asked Mike as he walked into the room, pulling a t-shirt on over his head.

Kristine nodded as she rinsed off her plate and smiled when Mike walked over to help her. There was something incredibly attractive about a guy helping with dishes.

"Thank you for yesterday," she said as they grabbed their gear and headed out, "I had a great time."

Mike smiled broadly at that, "I'm glad…and anytime…I mean that. You're welcome over here whenever you want."

Kristine smiled, knowing that this wouldn't be the last time she and Mike would spend their evenings together…

…

Kristine and Mike were the last two players to walk into the locker room of the Kettler Iceplex that morning. They hurriedly put on gear and fumbled with the laces on their skates as they rushed to catch up with their teammates.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Perreault was whispering urgently to Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom.

"Guys!" he hissed, practically bouncing up and down, "She's wearing the same clothes she did when she left the rink yesterday! She stayed the night at his place!"

The three players turned to look and sure enough, Kristine was changing out of the same outfit she had put on after practice the day before.

"Holy shit," muttered Semin in disbelief.

"Way to go Greenie!" whispered Ovechkin with a wide, excited grin.

"Someone overcame his fears last night," murmured Nicklas as they all laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, keep it down," muttered Ovechkin, "Let's not embarrass them. Come on let's go start practice."

Ovechkin led his teammates onto the ice. Mike and Kristine hurried after them, laughing at each other as they hit the ice.

"Hey Mike!" called Perrault from one end of the rink, "Get down here! You, me, Ovi, Sasha and Nicky are gonna run through some drills!"

Mike nodded as he turned back to Kristine, "I'll catch you after practice?"

"Yeah sounds great," said Kristine as she flashed him a dazzling smile, making Mike's heart beat just a little bit faster.

Kristine skated over to join Laich, Fehr, Beagle and Andrew Gordon while Mike skated over to his friends.

"Okay I lied," said Perreault once Kristine was out of earshot, "We actually want to know what went down last night and don't lie to us!"

Green rolled his eyes, "Okay well, at least pretend to be doing something okay? Let's not make this too obvious."

Ovechkin grabbed a puck and started passing it back and forth with his teammates.

"Okay, now spill!" he ordered, "What happened?"

Mike told them about how he had taken Kristine to the Green Turtle and how they had gone to his place afterwards. His friends were shocked when he told them about the movie and how he had put her in his bed but he himself slept on the couch.

"What?" asked Mathieu, looking disappointed, "You two didn't hook up?"

"Not on the first date!" exclaimed Green, shaking his head, "Geez…come on now. I care too much about her to sleep with her on day one! And besides…I don't know if the feelings are mutual yet, so just chill out, would you?"

Perreault rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Man…I was hoping to hear some good, juicy details. Damn you and your bleeding heart, Green."

Backstrom laughed at that, "Aw come on guys…give Mikey a break. He's made a ton of progress with Kristine lately and I for one am proud of him."

"Thanks," smirked Green, "Now can we please practice? I don't wanna drop the game tonight because you guys wanted to gossip."

Perreault slung the puck up high and watched it sail just left of Mike's head, "Spoil-sport," he muttered with a smirk on his face.

Mike glared playfully at Perreault as he retrieved the puck, "Start skating Mathieu!"

Perreault's eyes flew open in fear as Mike Green started skating quickly toward him with the puck. Perreault cried out in fear as he charged down the ice, weaving in-between the rest of the Capitals players as he tried to get away from Mike.

Kristine was just about to take a shot on the empty net as she slid deftly away from Eric Fehr's defense when suddenly Perreault appeared in front of her, nearly bowling her over.

"What the…?" asked Kristine in surprise as Mathieu Perreault skated behind her and held her in front of him.

"Help!" he cried as Mike Green skated over to them.

"Oh come on…hiding behind Kristine? Really?" asked a very amused looking Mike Green.

Kristine smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, "Mike, are you tormenting Mathieu?"

"Yes he is!" shouted Perreault as he glanced over Kristine's shoulder, shooting Mike a glare.

"Oh yeah right! You sent a puck to my head!" said Mike, trying to not burst out laughing.

"Michael, I'm sure it was an accident. Leave poor Mathieu alone," said Kristine as she winked at Mike.

"Ha!" exclaimed Perreault as he gave Mike a victorious look, "I win."

Mike rolled his eyes as Perreault skated off to rejoin their group at the other end of the rink.

"Way to take his side," joked Mike as he skated closer to Kristine.

Kristine just smirked, "Play nice, Mike…if you do I might go out to lunch with you after practice," she added, raising her eyebrow suggestively.

Mike sighed, "You don't play fair."

Kristine gave him a wink, "No…I play to win," she replied as she skated off to rejoin the rest of her group.

Mike watched her go, his heart hammering in his chest as he watched her set up another practice drill. Things were definitely beginning to look up…for both of them…

…

**Please Review!**


	20. More Than Just a Crush

**Okay, last 100% cutesy chapter, then we'll get back into the intense, hockey stuff lol : ) Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!**

**Note: The title of this chapter and the lyrics within are by David Archuleta and the song is called "Crush."**

_I hung up the phone tonight__  
__Something happened for the first time__  
__Deep inside__  
__It was a rush__  
__What a rush__  
__'Cause the possibility__  
__That you would ever feel the same way__  
__About me__  
__It's just too much__  
__Just too much___

_Why do I keep running from the truth?__  
__All I ever think about is you__  
__You got me hypnotized__  
__So mesmerized__  
__And I've just got to know___

_Do you ever think__  
__When you're all alone__  
__All that we could be?__  
__Where this thing could go?__  
__Am I crazy or falling in love?__  
__Is it real or just another crush?__  
__Do you catch a breath__  
__When I look at you?__  
__Are you holding back__  
__Like the way I do?__  
__'Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away__  
__But I know this crush ain't going__  
__Away__  
__Going away___

_Has it ever crossed your mind__  
__When we're hanging,__  
__Spending time, girl, are we just friends?__  
__Is there more?__  
__Is there more? (Is there more)__  
__See it's a chance we've gotta take__  
__'Cause I believe that we can make this__  
__Into something that'll last__  
__Last forever__  
__Forever_

_Two Weeks Later…_

"You gotta do it, man," said Eric Fehr, "Come on, I mean you two have been inseparable for the past couple of weeks. It's about time you make it official."

Mike Green took another sip of his wine before he answered. The Capitals were enjoying a pre-game dinner at a fancy restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh before they played the Penguins that evening. They were all dressed up in suites and ties and were seated around several tables throughout the room. Kristine was wearing a floor-length, strapless black dress and was sitting with a couple of the trainers and her fellow rookies: Andrew Gordon and Jay Beagle. Mike glanced over his shoulder at her and caught her eye. She smiled and gave him a little wave and he returned the gesture, feeling warmth spread through his body under her kind, happy gaze.

"I know," he said as he glanced back over at Eric Fehr, "I just…I don't want to push her, you know? I don't want to pressure her into something if she isn't ready yet. And besides all that we have to see the damn Penguins tonight. It's been awhile since she's seen Crosby and I'm sure it won't be easy for her…no sense in me making it any more difficult."

"But how much easier would it be if she had a new, protective boyfriend skating with her tonight?" prompted Alex Semin, "I would think that would give her the confidence and the strength to make it through the game…might also give you a little something to rub in Crosby's face."

"Hear, hear!" agreed Perreault as he raised his wine glass.

Nicklas smirked a little at Perreault before he turned to Mike, "Sasha's got a point…maybe now is the perfect time to ask her?"

Mike gave Nicklas a scared look, "Wait, what? Here as in…_now_?"

Alex Ovechkin shrugged, "Yeah why not? I say go for it."

"I'm not gonna ask her _now_," hissed Mike as he glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that Kristine couldn't hear them, "What if she said no? In front of all of you? What if she says yes because she feels pressured?"

"And what if she says yes because she likes you?" asked Mathieu Perreault, "I mean come on…she has to like you at least a little bit. I mean, she hangs out with you every second of every day."

Mike sighed as he weighed his options. He felt an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety as he contemplated how he would ask her out or if he even should for that matter. He took another swig of his drink and sighed. How the hell was he supposed to do this?

…

"So, when are you and Mikey gonna make it official?" asked Andrew Gordon with a mischievous grin on his face.

Kristine nearly choked on her water. She hadn't been expecting such a direct question from one of her teammates. She assumed that the guys were giving Mike a hard time about it but they had left her alone for the most part when it came to her personal life.

"Um…I guess that would be his call?" said Kristine.

"Would you say yes if he asked you?" pressed Jay Beagle, his eyes glittering with excitement.

Kristine narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Are you guys gathering information for him or something?"

Gordon and Beagle exchanged a quick glance that told Kristine everything she needed to know. She rolled her eyes at them in exasperation.

"You guys are ridiculous," she muttered.

"What?" asked Andrew with a crooked smirk, "Just tryin' to help a brother out. I mean…you know he really likes you right?"

Kristine smiled a little at that, "Yeah I've gotten a few hints," she said sarcastically.

"And?" prompted Jay, "Do you like him too?"

"I'm not saying anything to either of you!" laughed Kristine, "You're both sneaky little bastards."

Gordon and Beagle burst out laughing at that as they refilled their wine glasses.

"If you guys are drunk at the game tonight Boudreau is going to be so pissed," warned one of the trainers, "That's the last glass for both of you."

Beagle and Gordon mumbled irritably to one another about that while Kristine tried to hide her amusement. She glanced over at the table where Mike was sitting and noticed that he was fidgeting nervously. Sasha, Nicky, Mathieu and Alex were talking in hushed tones to him and glancing over at her every once in a while. Kristine raised a curious eyebrow at them as she watched the exchange. Mike ran a hand through his fo-hawk and took a deep breath before he stood up, much to his friends' excitement. Mathieu Perreault smacked him on the butt as he turned to walk away. Mike whirled around and smacked Perreault upside the head with his cloth napkin before he walked away. Perreault just laughed as he watched Mike leave, excited to see what was going to happen.

Kristine's eyes grew wide with surprise as she realized that he was walking over to her table. She noted the anxiety in his eyes as he slid into an empty seat next to her. His hands looked like they were trembling and he looked as if he were going to be sick.

"Hey," she said as she reached out and touched his arm, "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, yeah I'm okay," said Mike as he glanced back over at his table. Alex, Sasha, Mathieu and Nicky were all trying their best to look nonchalant but their quick, furtive glances in his direction gave them away. He frowned at them, willing his friends to stop being ridiculous while he talked with Kristine.

"Are you sure?" pressed Kristine as she reached out and held one of Mike's trembling hands, "You're shaking."

Mike laughed nervously as he held her hand, "Uh, yeah…that's because I'm about to do the scariest thing I've ever done in my entire life so far."

Kristine gave Mike a very confused look and tilted her head curiously, "Oh? What's that? What's going on?"

Mike took a deep, shaky breath as he tried to gather whatever small amount of confidence he had left before he replied.

"Well…I know tonight is going to be a hard night for you," he began as he studied Kristine's reaction.

She glanced away for a moment and nodded before she looked back into his eyes.

"And," continued Mike, "I know…things may get rough out there like they did the last time we played the Pens. But last time I told you that I'd be there for you and that I had your back. I played harder than I ever have in my life during that game because I wanted to protect you…I wanted to help you win that game and beat the shit out of Crosby and make them all pay for everything they've done. And…this time I want to have your back again…but maybe in a slightly different way than I did last time."

Jay Beagle exchanged a shocked and excited glance with Andrew Gordon. Andrew was beaming happily as he predicted what would happen next.

Meanwhile, back at Mike's old table, his teammates were waiting anxiously to find out what was going on.

"Do you think it's going well?" asked Semin, nervously.

"He's talking a lot…so that's a good sign," replied Ovechkin, "He's leading up to it maybe."

"God I hope he doesn't chicken out," said Perreault as he glanced over his shoulder at Kristine and Mike.

"Have faith in Mike," assured Nicklas, "He's wanted to do this for a very long time…he'll find the right words to say."

Kristine blinked in surprise and confusion as she tried to process what Mike was saying, "Oh…how so?" she pressed when Mike stopped talking for a moment.

"I…I was wondering if you would give me the honor of…of being your boyfriend," said Mike, his heart pounding harder than it ever had before, "I want to be there for you in every way possible, Kristine. You mean so much to me…more than you probably even know, and I just want to be there next to you in every challenge you face, every game you play…in everything I want to be there…if you'll allow me to."

Kristine felt a wave of emotion hit her as she listened to Mike's sincere, heart-felt words. She couldn't control the moisture that sprung to her eyes as she listened to him. She had never had a man say anything like this to her before. This was yet another first experience that Mike was introducing her to and she was elated.

"Yes…yes, Mike….I would love to be your girlfriend!" she choked out between sobs.

Mike looked stunned for a moment before he reacted. His shoulders sagged in relief as he leaned forward and held her in his arms while she tried to dry her tears. He murmured in her ear while Jay Beagle and Andrew Gordon began hollering and cheering loudly.

"Green and Alvarez are official!" announced Andrew Gordon to the rest of the room.

Instantly the team stood on their feet and began to cheer and clap for their fellow teammates. Mathieu Perreault was by far the loudest of the bunch as he leapt up in down in excitement. Semin, Ovechkin and Backstrom all exchanged high-fives and congratulatory hugs as they celebrated their friend's accomplishment.

"This is gonna be the best freaking game tonight!" said Perreault once he had finally calmed down a little, "Dude I cannot _wait_ to see the look on Sidney Crosby's face when he finds out! Man I hope I'm on the ice for that one!"

Mike and Kristine finally pulled away from their embrace and glanced around the room at their friends. They laughed at Mathieu's antics and their friends' excitement. After a moment, Mike reached out and put two fingers under Kristine's chin, turning her head so that she was facing him. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, both of their hearts racing as Mike leaned forward and kissed her.

If they both had felt a spark that fateful night in the hotel, tonight they felt a fire. Kristine had never kissed someone with this much passion and feeling in her entire life. The world around her seemed to fade away and all that existed were her and Mike…just the way she wanted it to be…

…

_Do you ever think__  
__When you're all alone__  
__All that we could be?__  
__Where this thing could go?__  
__Am I crazy or falling in love?__  
__Is it real or just another crush?__  
__Do you catch a breath__  
__When I look at you?__  
__Are you holding back__  
__Like the way I do?__  
__'Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away__  
__But I know this crush ain't going__  
__Away__  
__Going away_

...

**Please Review!**

**So my game-plan is to do a chapter about the game against the Penguins then jump ahead to the playoffs. So I don't know how many more chapters are left but I am hoping to get this story done by tomorrow night or Saturday night since I have to leave for school on Sunday. Thanks so much for reading! :D **


	21. Bad Reputation

**Thank you as always for the amazing reviews! : ) This is a little more of a rough and tough chapter that I think several of you will enjoy…especially 2 of you in particular ;) YAY FOR GIRL POWER! :D lol!**

**Note: The title of this chapter and the lyrics within it are from a song called "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett (the 80's live forever! Lol)**

...

_I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation  
You're living in the past, it's a new generation  
A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do_

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation  
Oh no, not me!

…

Kristine skated out onto the ice with a new-found confidence she hadn't felt in a very long time. She felt encouraged by the roar from the stands as she and her fellow teammates began to warm up on their home ice. The red-infused building, bright lights, loud cheers and pulsating music made her adrenalin kick into high gear. She glanced over at Mike who was skating right behind her and gave him an excited smile.

Mike felt his heart melt at her happy grin and the light that danced in her green eyes. He knew in that moment he would do anything for Kristine…anything at all. He glanced over to the other side of the rink as the Penguins exploded from their locker room and spilled out onto their end of the rink. He scanned all of them and honed in on the one player he was looking for: Sidney Crosby.

The young Penguin's captain looked like he had made a full recovery from their last bout here at the Verizon Center, aside from a small scar on his lower lip where Mike had landed a hard and heavy punch. Mike smirked a little in satisfaction at that as he skated along the center ice line, shooting withering glares at the enemy team.

"Let's kick his ass," sneered Andrew Gordon as he skated up next to Mike Green, "I'll hold him, you beat him."

Green couldn't help but smirk at the energetic, temperamental young forward, "Don't worry, Andrew…just take it easy. We got our point across at the last game, let's just let this one play out and see what happens. If they wanna play dirty, then we'll take it to them again and send them home limping, okay?"

Andrew narrowed his eyes and smiled in satisfaction as he pictured Crosby limping off the ice, "Okay…fair enough," he replied as he and Mike skated back over toward their net and began to warm up their muscles.

Kristine finished stretching out her legs and began to skate in circles around the Capitals half of the ice to warm up her muscles. She skated along the center ice line and froze in mid-stride when she nearly plowed right into Sidney Crosby.

Crosby froze when he saw that it was Kristine who had nearly bowled him over. He stared at her for a moment before he spoke, "Um…hi, how are you?"

Kristine gave him an icy glare, "Better than I've ever been in my entire life, thanks," she said curtly as she skated away, not wanting to spend another second anywhere near her ex-boyfriend.

Crosby frowned in disappointment as he watched her skate away. He felt a wave of guilt and regret as he thought back to what had happened between them. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and skated back over to his team and prepared for the opening faceoff.

…

The first period of the game went smoothly without any real fighting, aside from a small tussle or two in front of the net, and no injuries. The Capitals had taken a one goal lead and were more than ready to finish the game in style rather than in brutal combat as they had the last game they played the Penguins.

As the puck dropped for the beginning of the second period, Perreault won the faceoff and slipped the puck to Nicklas Backstrom. As Nicklas began to weave his way down the ice he found himself cornered by two of the Penguins' defensemen. He sent a quick pass over to Ovechkin and watched as it deflected off his skate at an awkward angle. Kristine moved quickly and recovered the flailing puck and regained possession. She shifted into an open slot in front of the net and took a shot, hissing in frustration as she watched Fleury's glove hand snap shut around the puck.

"Nice shot," said Nicklas as he bumped fists with Kristine, "We got pinned down over there, but not a bad play."

"We may want to play dump and chase," suggested Mike as he skated over to them, "We can't work it down there like we normally do…their defense is all over us before we get anywhere near the net and we never get a good, clean shot at it."

Kristine nodded, "Yeah I agree."

Ovechkin nodded as well, "Alright, dump and chase. Let's do it guys!"

The Capitals arranged themselves around the faceoff dot and prepared for the puck drop. Perreault once again made quick work of Evengi Malkin and won the puck drop, sending a quick wrister over to Kristine. Kristine gained quick control of the puck and sent a sprawling pass down the ice and past the defense. Mike Green was already on the move, skating hard down the ice, just barely missing an off-sides call as he slid behind the Penguins' net and began to fight off their defense.

Perreault and Ovechkin rushed over to help and managed to get a handle on the puck. Ovechkin snatched it off the boards and sent a short pass over to Backstrom. Nicklas moved without hesitation, deflecting the puck over to Kristine who maneuvered into point position. Ovechkin followed suite and the two forwards began passing the puck back and forth as they waited for their teammates to find a hole in the Penguins' defense. Kristine saw that Mike was open and sent a quick wrister in his direction. Mike deflected the pass and sent it sailing into the Penguins' net.

The Capitals erupted in cheers as the players congratulated one another on the ice.

"Nice pass, Alvarez," said Green as he smacked Kristine on the butt with his stick and gave her a coy wink.

Kristine raised an eyebrow suggestively, "Mmm why thank you. Nice shot Green…you have good aim."

Mike grinned from ear to ear as he flirted with his girlfriend. The exchange was not lost on Evengi Malkin. He raised an eyebrow in surprise as he watched the two players head back to the bench. Did Kristine have a new man in her life…?

…

By the beginning of the third period the Capitals were beating the Penguins two to one. Evengi Malkin had scored the single goal for the Pens during a bad line change by the Capitals. Caught off guard, Varlamov didn't stand a chance against the light-footed Russian.

About five minutes into the third period, Kristine was skating deftly along the boards on the Penguins side of the rink, hunting for an open channel to shoot or to pass the puck. Without warning she was blindsided by a powerful hit from behind. Her head smacked against the boards and she crumpled to the ice as the world around her began to spin out of control.

"ASSHOLE!" roared an enraged Mike Green as he charged Sidney Crosby, "You moron! I'll kill you!"

Crosby whirled around to meet Mike Green's challenge as the Capital's defenseman practically leapt on him. Crosby cried out as he hit the ice and put his fists in front of his face to protect himself against Green's onslaught.

"If you _ever_ hit my girlfriend like that again I swear to God I'll rip your damn head off!" snarled an enraged Mike Green as he jabbed at Crosby, trying to get a good punch in-between his hands.

"Your _what_?" cried a startled Sidney Crosby as he tried to squirm away from Mike.

"Easy there buddy!" said Ovechkin as he skated over and helped the refs pry Mike away from Sidney, "It's not worth the additional penalties, let it go!"

Green seethed with rage but conceded and stopped fighting. He skated over to where Kristine was still laying on the ice, her eyes squeezed tight against the overwhelming feeling of dizziness and nausea. He knelt down next to her and lifted her head so he could get a look at her.

"Baby? Hun, are you okay?" he asked softly, his eyes glistening with concern as he studied Kristine.

Kristine forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath as she opened her eyes and looked up at Mike, "Um…yeah…just a little woozy…I got the wind knocked out of me too. Who…who hit me?"

Mike's jaw tightened with anger as he glanced over his shoulder to see one of the referees escorting a whining Sidney Crosby to the penalty box.

"You asshole ex-boyfriend," he muttered furiously, "Don't worry…I took care of him. I think I split his lip open right where that scar was too. His pretty little face won't ever be the same again."

Kristine processed that information and frowned, deeply troubled by that news, "Unbelievable."

"Sadly it isn't," sneered Mike as he helped Kristine to her feet.

Kristine sighed as she nodded in agreement and leaned heavily on Mike as he lead her back to the Capitals bench to receive medical treatment.

"I don't want to sit out," said Kristine the second she reached the bench, "Just let me sit down for a couple minutes and catch my breath again…I'll be fine."'

Mike frowned at that, "Don't push yourself, Kristine…we can finish them off."

Kristine shook her head, "No…I'm finishing this on my own two feet."

Mike couldn't help but smile at that. She was stubborn but then again he liked that about her…she never gave up when things got tough.

"Alright then…we'll see you in a few," he said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss.

Kristine sat down on the bench and sighed wearily. Her body ached from the blow Crosby had dealt her but that only fueled her anger. If that was how he wanted to finish this feud then so be it…two could play this game…

…

A few minutes later Kristine took to the ice, rejoining her usual starting line in the last five minutes of the game. She glanced over and saw that Crosby and Malkin's line was out on the ice. She sneered openly at Crosby as she skated over next to him and took her position for the faceoff. Crosby began shoving her, trying to unbalance her as they waited for the puck to drop. Kristine fought back against him, shoving him roughly right back. Crosby threw out an elbow and caught Kristine in the side, causing her to stumble a little.

Kristine let out a growl of rage as she got up and whirled around, sending a roundhouse punch to the side of Crosby's face. The young Penguins' captain howled in pain as he nearly fell to the ice from the force of the blow. He grabbed his sore cheek and gave Kristine a look of utter astonishment.

"Do that one more time and there's more than that waiting for you," she hissed as the referee rushed over to them.

"Knock it off!" he roared, "You're both lucky the puck wasn't in play or you'd be serving time in the box! Lay off!"

Kristine nodded curtly at the ref as she took her position once again. Crosby followed suite, this time keeping a careful couple inches between them.

Mike laughed openly as he took his position down and to the right of Backstrom who was preparing to battle it out for the puck drop. He gave Kristine a wink and then shot Crosby a warning glare.

"So, you and Mike huh?" muttered Crosby.

"Yeah, me and Mike," said Kristine shortly.

Crosby nodded to himself, "Makes sense…he was always pining after you when we were together. He always had that look in his eye…like he wanted to screw you so bad."

The second the puck drop Kristine rammed right into Crosby, bowling him over as she moved down the ice. She was infuriated by Crosby's cold, cruel statement and was determined to shut him up one way or another. Backstrom glanced up from where he skated at center ice with the puck. He blinked in surprise when he caught sight of Kristine, wide open in front of the net without any defensemen around her. He sent a quick wrister up to her and watched as she flicked it easily into the net, well clear of Fleury's catching glove.

The team cheered excitedly as Kristine skated over to Crosby with a victorious smirk on her face. Crosby rolled his eyes and frowned as she skated up to him.

"How's it feel to be all alone at night? When you're lying there in bed thinking of me, I'm with Mike. Whenever you feel a slight sense of regret, I feel a sense of freedom and true love like I've never known before. And…I'm a hell of a lot better hockey player than you are. Karma's a bitch, Sidney…and her name is Kristine Alvarez."

…

**Please Review!**

_I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation  
You're living in the past, it's a new generation  
A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do_

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation  
Oh no, not me

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation  
Never said I wanted to improve my station  
An' I'm only doin' good when I'm havin' fun  
An' I don't have to please no one

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation  
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation  
I've never been afraid of any deviation  
An' I don't really care if ya think I'm strange  
I ain't gonna change

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation  
The world's in trouble, there's no communication  
An' everyone can say what they wanna say  
It never gets better, anyway

So why should I care 'bout a bad reputation anyway?  
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me

I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation  
You're living in the past, it's a new generation  
An' I only feel good when I got no pain  
An' that's how I'm gonna stay

An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation  
Oh no, not me, oh no, not me  
Not me, not me!


	22. Never Surrender

**So I'm sad to say that this will be the final installment in this story : ( So it's gonna be a sort of extended "afterward"…I know, I know I'm upset too…I truly LOVED writing this story! But everything is getting kind of crazy around here with me getting ready to head back to school for another semester so I won't have time to write any more than I am right now. No worries though, I already have a couple ideas for a third installment that I will work on while I'm at school and during the next break. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story! I've really appreciated all the feedback and amazing reviews :D You guys are the best! And…as always:**

**ROCK THE RED!**

**Note: The lyrics at the end of the chapter are from a song called "I Made It" by Kevin Rudolf. The lyrics in the middle of the chapter and the title of the chapter are from a song called "The Pretender" by the Foo Fighters.**

…

_Three Months Later…_

The last few months of the regular NHL season flew by for the Washington Capitals. Communication on the ice had increased dramatically and the Capitals found themselves scratching their way to the top of the NHL charts. They secured the Southeast Division title and went on to lock in the President's Trophy, making them the number one team in the NHL. The Capitals had now accomplished more than they ever had. Their star players were breaking records left and right, win after win, but there was still one thing that the Washington Capitals had yet to accomplish: winning the Stanley Cup.

For the past few years the Capitals had come within inches of achieving this most coveted award but had always fallen short. They were never able to tough it out in the long haul and ended up falling to teams like the Penguins and the Blackhawks. But this year the fans were more optimistic than usual. Something had drastically changed this year…and that something was Kristine Alvarez.

Kristine was the Capitals ace up their sleeve and they pulled her out whenever things got a little hairy out on the ice. She always managed to keep the puck moving and scored unbelievable goals alongside fellow super-star, Alex Ovechkin and her boyfriend and the number one defenseman in the league: Mike Green. The Capitals raced into the playoffs at full speed, not waiting for the other teams to catch up with their incredible momentum. As they moved from one round to the next, other teams across the NHL began to wonder if this really was the year the Capitals took home the Cup.

The Capitals moved into the semi-finals and found themselves face to face with their arch rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins were out to prove themselves and to restore their battered and tainted image thanks to the Washington Capitals. They came to play every night and never let up…but neither did the Capitals. After six games the score was tied three to three, thereby forcing a decisive game seven…

…

"You ready, baby?" murmured Mike Green as he put an arm around Kristine's waist.

Kristine took a shaky breath as she turned to face him, "You think we can do this?" she asked anxiously, "Cause there's no going back…if we lose this game it's all over. Mike…"

"Hey, hey," said Mike as he tilted her chin up with his fingers, "We will win this. I know we will. We want it more than they do and we're better than them…and we're going to prove all of that tonight, okay?"

Kristine smiled and nodded as she leaned up and kissed Mike. For the past several months she and Mike had been dating and it had been a whirl-wind of love and true compassion that she had never known. She felt herself relax under his steady brown gaze and knew in that moment that she wouldn't stop until they had knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs.

The opening music began to play and the Capitals rushed out onto the ice to face down their rivals in the final do or die game of the playoff semi-finals. Ovechkin let out a battle cry as he hit the ice first. Kristine let out her cat-like war cry as she followed him and plunged out onto the ice, determination and confidence in every stride as she circled around their net and began to warm up her muscles. Tonight was the night…tonight was _their_ night…and nothing Crosby could do would ruin that for her or for her teammates…

…

Things had gotten brutal by the third period. The Penguins had resorted to low-blows and hard hits in an attempt to throw off the Capitals momentum. The Capitals were winning three to zero going into the third but now with one minute left they were tied at three to three.

Kristine felt herself grow hot with anger as she glanced over and saw Crosby, all smiles as he discussed the next play for his team. Her jaw clenched with rage and a sudden feeling came over her. She skated over to the Capitals bench and leaned in so that Coach Boudreau could hear her.

"Coach, let me play for the last minute of the game," she said, her eyes alight with confidence and a fire that the coach and her teammates had never seen before. It was as if she knew exactly how things were about to be played out, "If you put me out there I'll get us that last goal."

Boudreau studied his star rookie for a long moment then nodded in consent, "Do work, Alvarez…we're counting on that confidence of yours."

Kristine nodded, "I won't let you down…any of you. Tonight is our night…let's finish this!"

The team cheered and banged their sticks on the boards in agreement as Ovechkin's line took to the ice.

Backstrom skated up to Kristine and nodded at her, "Take the faceoff…get the puck and get it down there. If anyone can pull this thing off, it's you."

Kristine blinked in surprise at the confidence that Backstrom had in her. She glanced around and saw that Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Mike Green were all nodding in agreement. She felt a wave of emotion hit her when she saw the trust and loyalty in their eyes. They were banking on her unique skill set to pull this game off…and they completely trusted in her ability to do just that. After a moment she nodded in consent and turned to take the final draw of the game.

As Kristine skated toward center ice and got into position for the faceoff, she saw Sidney Crosby skate over to her. She heard Green curse at that and smack his stick on the ice in anger. Crosby took up position in front of Kristine and gave her a long, hard look.

"You don't scare me, Sidney," sneered Kristine, "This ends tonight."

_What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say I will never surrender?_

"You bet your ass it does," smirked Crosby in a cocky manner, "Your Capitals cute little winning streak ends tonight…you have to know that the Capitals will never will the Cup. You guys just aren't cut out for it."

"Save the talking and let's play some hockey," growled the ref as he prepared to drop the puck.

Kristine glared coldly at Crosby as she got into position. The second the puck hit the ice, Kristine rammed her shoulder into Crosby, knocking him out of the way and giving her a clear channel to take the puck down the ice. Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and Green moved quickly, blocking the other Penguins' players from going after Kristine as she moved swiftly down the ice. She skittered gracefully away from one defenseman and found herself in a breakaway position. With determination in her eyes, Kristine used the breakaway to her full advantage. She raised her stick high and watched as Fleury went down to block the shot. She noted the shocked and horrified look on the goalie's face when he realized Kristine's raised stick was a fake. Before Fleury could correct his mistake, Kristine sent a wrister top shelf and watched as it slid cleanly into the net.

_What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say I will never surrender?__  
__I'm the voice inside your head__  
__You refuse to hear__  
__I'm the face that you have to face__  
__Mirrored in your stare__  
__I'm what's left, I'm what's right__  
__I'm the enemy__  
__I'm the hand that will take you down__  
__Bring you to your knees!_

The crowd erupted in deafening cheers and whistles as the Capitals bench cleared. Kristine soon found herself in the middle of a massive throng of players, all hitting her helmet and patting her on the back in congratulations. Mike Green managed to maneuver himself through the throng to get to Kristine. She beamed happily when she saw him and laughed when he picked her up and twirled her around. Once he sat her back down on the ice, he leaned in and kissed her with all the passion he had in him.

"I told you we could do it," he said with a huge grin on his face, "_You_ did it Kristine! You just put us in the Stanley Cup finals!"

Kristine smiled as she hugged Mike, too choked up to reply to his kind words. She glanced over his shoulder and watched as the Penguins left the rink, not even bothering to shake their hands. She sneered at that and rolled her eyes. Not only did this game prove who the better team was, it also proved that the Capitals were better _people_ too.

As the team cheered and jumped up in down with excitement Kristine felt an overwhelming since of pride and happiness. For the first time in her life she knew that she truly belonged here. As she gazed around at her teammates she began to notice that they were more than just players on her team…they had become her friends, her brothers. She scanned them all one by one, her heart filled to the brim as she noted each and every smiling face. This was her hometown and these were her best friends…what more could a girl ask for?

…

_Afterward:_

The Capitals did indeed move into the Stanley Cup finals against the Blackhawks and played their hearts out. On the fifth game of the series, the Capitals were leading three to one of the previous four games. In overtime of the fifth game, Alexander Ovechkin received an incredible pass from Kristine and moved down the ice. He found himself surrounded by defensemen and was forced to give up the puck. Mike Green slid in and, from his knees, sent the puck sailing into the net.

The crowd roared louder than they ever had before. The fans were beside themselves with excitement as tears of joy flowed down their faces. The Sea of Red was on their feet, jumping up and down in excitement as they celebrated their team's amazing victory.

Down on the ice the Capitals were beside themselves with overwhelming joy as they poured out of the bench and onto their home ice. Kristine practically tackled her boyfriend as she congratulated him on an amazing goal. The celebration went on for over an hour after they handed Alexander Ovechkin the Stanley Cup. He held it high in the air and the crowd went wild again. But then Ovechkin did something that made the crowd cheer even louder: he handed the Cup to Kristine Alvarez. Her eyes grew wide with astonishment as she held the Stanley Cup and gave Ovechkin a shocked look.

"This is because of you!" shouted Ovechkin over the roar of the crowd, "This all happened because of you! You were the breakaway we needed! You were the final piece this team was looking for!"

Kristine felt the tears pour down her face as she lifted the Cup high over her head.

The Washington Capitals had won their first Stanley Cup.

…

That night the Washington Capitals and their coaching staff went out to a very expensive, fancy restaurant to celebrate their victory. It was already two in the morning but they didn't care. They all knew they wouldn't be sleeping for quite some time. The adrenalin was overwhelming as they continued to absorb the fact that they had just won the Stanley Cup.

"I don't think I'll ever stop crying!" said Perreault as he dabbed at his eyes with his cloth napkin.

Kristine nodded in agreement as she reached out for Mike's hand. Mike intertwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a light squeeze.

"I'm so proud of you," she said quietly to him, "That was the most amazing goal I've ever seen!"

Mike rolled his eyes, "This coming from _you_? Queen of the Impossible Goals?"

Kristine laughed as Mike leaned over to kiss her. After a few more minutes of celebration and discussion, Mike stood up from the table. Kristine looked up at him and gave him a confused look as he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Excuse me everyone!" he called out, "I just have something I'd like to say and I want everyone to hear it."

"Yeah Mikey!" shouted Andrew Gordon.

The team joined him in clapping their hero who had scored the winning goal for their team. Mike smirked as he continued.

"I just want to say how grateful I am to be on the best damn hockey team that ever touched the ice," he said, pausing as cheering erupted again, "And I'd like to do something on this special night. You all know that Kristine and I have been dating for a while now," more cheering interrupted Mike, much to his amusement, "And, well…I know for a fact that I don't know what I'd do without her in my life. So, without further ado…"

Kristine's eyes flew open in astonishment as Mike knelt down to one knee. She covered her mouth in shock as she felt tears spring to her eyes.

"Kristine you have done me the amazing honor of being your boyfriend," said Mike, swallowing back his own emotion, "And…I would love to be even more than that for you. I want to wake up with you next to me every morning…I want to be there in every step of your life. Kristine…will you marry me?"

Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and Perreault nearly lost it. Perreault reached over and shook Andrew Gordon's shoulder in excitement, a wide grin plastered all over his face. The rest of the team was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what Kristine would say.

"Yes, yes of course!" she said in-between sobs.

Mike leaned forward and kissed her, holding her tight as he slipped the impressive diamond ring onto her finger. Kristine gazed down at it in awe as she held onto her fiancé.

Despite the challenges that had arisen during her rookie season, Kristine had learned and gained so much: teammates who became friends who then became brothers, a man who loved her more than life itself, and the unbelievable achievement of winning the Stanley Cup for the town and the team she loved so dearly.

Thanks to this year, nothing would be the same…and she wouldn't have wanted it to happen any other way…

_I look up to the sky__  
__and now the World is mine__  
__I've known it all my life__  
__I made it, I made it!__  
__I used to dream about, the life I'm living now__  
__I know that there's no doubt.__  
__I made it, I made it!___

_Known from the city where no one believed in me__  
__but I never give up the fight.__  
__Ya, but now I'm on top.__  
__I told you to let it rock__  
__The moneys fallin from the sky-y-y-y-y__  
__I made it!_

…

**The End**

…

**I'M SO SAD IT'S OVER! :'( **

**This is the first story in quite some time that I have truly, truly, truly LOVED writing! I felt very passionate about this one so it ended up coming out a lot better than I thought it would (which never ever happens lol). Thank you soooo much to everyone who read this! I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I did! : ) Keep in touch! Send me a message once in awhile…I'll be working on a plot for the 3****rd**** installment of this series here soon so I can begin writing it while I'm away at college. **

**ROCK THE RED!**

**LET'S GO CAPS! : )**


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